The writer at Ever After High: Finding Forever After
by emyy250
Summary: This is the sequel to The writer at Ever After High. Cocoa is graduating from Ever After High when someone restarts Villain Killing with Milton Grimm.
1. Chapter 1

Chapter 1

Meeting my other cousins

I snuck up on Daddy and kissed his cheek, "Got you."

He whipped around, picking me up, and gave me a kiss before I could run away, "Oh, Cocoa-bear, you're never going to win like that." We made a game called Ninja kisses. I sneak up on Daddy and give him a kiss and ran before he could get me back. It was fun.

"Pfft." I stuck my tongue out.

"Yeah, I know. Come on, we should go practice one more time before it gets too dark. You almost had it." He put me down and we went outside to the woods. There was a large, wide-ish ditch that I could never make on the way to the pond. Daddy had to carry or catch me, but lately I've been making it to edge. Like on the edge and I'd always almost fall into the ditch. I can clear the candlestick or a 5 foot fence no problem, but Daddy won't be happy until I can make the ditch.

"But I cleared the candlestick." I brought up again.

"He won't listen." Stephen told me.

"You have to be well rounded, Cocoa. You can't just jump up over everything. I had to jump over several candles in a row once. I do to listen." Daddy huffed at Stephen.

"It's too wide." I complained.

"It's almost 6 feet. You should be able to make that. You can jump over the fence." Daddy retorted.

"That's different. And there are rocks at the bottom." I got on SeaBreeze, Indigo's, one of four of Stephen's daughters, horse. I learned I could summon their pets, too. It took more energy because they were animals and they liked to stay outside.

"You're not jumping with SeaBreeze." Daddy told me.

"I know. She wants to go for a walk." I pat her neck. She nickered back. SeaBreeze was a good horsey.

"Hi, Cocoa." Indigo came out. She had red hair and blue eyes. She had to help me get SeaBreeze back in my brain.

"Hi. How are you?" I asked. I wasn't always ready to see my characters outside my head and since there were three series worth of them, I could get surprised.

"I'm ok. We want another outside day. That was fun." Indigo said. I let them have outside time with other characters to let them meet the each other. They got along pretty well. Well, most of them. Some of the villains didn't behave long enough for me figure out if they would like the others. I won't let them meet the other villains.

"Ok. That's sounds good." I told her. Daddy stopped so I got off SeaBreeze and gave the rein to Indigo. She lead the horse back into my brain.

"Are they in?" Daddy asked me.

"Yeah." I looked around to make sure. I didn't see anyone out. I got in front of the ditch and took a few steps back to run. Daddy allowed that. I ran, got to the edge, and jumped. I stumbled as I landed.

"Yay! Go, Cocoa." Mint yelled. I turned around to see all of them outside. Daddy looked too.

"You did it." Dellia, a main character that's a werewolf, howled. Her kids joined her.

"Ok. Let's go home and get some ice cream." Daddy told me after they calmed down. The others looked at him.

"Ice cream?" Lettuce asked.

"I want ice cream." Ruke said.

"We don't have enough for all of you." Daddy jumped over to me.

"Aw. Can the kids have some?" Draco, Dellia's husband, asked.

"Where does the food you eat go?" I wondered.

"I dunno." Stephen shrugged.

"Oh, Jazz and Junior are coming tomorrow. I have to go clean their rooms." Daddy carried me and ran back to the house.

"No ice cream?" Lettuce made puppy eyes.

"Sorry. Junior goes for the tub before I can stop him." He said.

"That's why we should eat it." Lok said.

"Jazz'll want some too." We got to the backyard and Daddy put me down. I went inside and put my jammies on. I got some ice cream anyway. Mint and Ruke ate some of the chocolate sauce. Lettuce snuck a bite of ice cream and took my spoon.

"Yummy." She licked her lip.

"Stop eating Cocoa's reward." Daddy was in his nightshirt and boxers. I looked away. It still felt weird to see Daddy without clothes on. He gave me my spoon back.

"Thanks." I took it back and ate more.

"I'm still getting used to you in nightgowns, too, Cocoa-bear." He kissed my head.

"Ok." I leaned back onto his tummy and his face was upside down. I smiled.

"Aw." Sophie cooed.

"Look at them. It's so cute." Dellia squealed.

"Stop it. Go to bed. Her cousins are coming and I don't want her to be tired." Daddy blushed.

"Right. Nighty-night, Cocoa. Be good for your daddy." Tara, one of Dellia's twin girls, knuckle eyed Daddy gently.

"Hey. Don't-" Dellia growled at him.

"I wouldn't do that." Draco warned him. Draco was a vampire. His and Dellia's kids were werepires. Half vampire, half werewolf.

"Ok. C'mon Sweetie, let's go to bed." Daddy led me upstairs and we brushed our teeth. Then he tucked me into bed and turned off the light.

"Love you." I told him.

"Love you, too. Get some rest." Daddy closed the door.

The next day

We were cleaning Junior's new room. He used to stay in my room. Daddy wouldn't let the others help. I had to clean all by myself. I just finished vacuuming when the doorbell rang.

"I'll get it. You put the vacuum away." Daddy went downstairs. I put it back in its little closet and went downstairs. Aunt Jane was there with two kids. One was a girl with red hair in a long elbow length braid and bright blue eyes like her mom. Junior looked like Daddy, but smaller and not as muscular.

"Cocoa, this is Jazz," Daddy pointed to the girl, "And this is Junior." He pointed to the boy.

"Hi." Jazz waved.

Junior was quiet for a minute then he yelled, "I hate you! You made Uncle Jack miss my birthday and Thanksgiving and Christmas." Everyone was silence for a couple minutes. I started tearing up and then full out sobbing.

"Sor-ry." I wailed.

"What the hell, Junior?! Go talk to your son, Jane. Cocoa, he's just mad. He doesn't hate you. Shh." Daddy hugged me. I grabbed his shirt. I didn't mean to hog Daddy from Junior. Or anyone.

"I'm sorry about Junior." Jazz touched my shoulder.

"Thanks." I sniffed.

Aunt Jane and Junior came back inside. He looked sorry.

"Say it." Aunt Jane told him.

"I'm sorry I yelled at you. I shouldn't have taken it out on you." He looked at me.

"You won't be sent back home, but you aren't getting any ice cream or dessert. And no TV or Mirriornet. Give me your phone." Daddy held out his hand.

"What?" Junior asked.

"I'm disabling the wifi." Daddy waited for him to get his phone out and took it. He messed with it until the wifi was off. He handed the phone back.

"If I hear so much as a bad word about you, you're coming home until school starts." Aunt Jane threatened.

"Yes, Mom. I'll be good." He slunk back.

"Good, now go unpack." She told them. They got their suitcases and went upstairs.

"Junior, wait, I have to show you your new room." Daddy followed him up.

"Hi, I'm Dellia and we'll make sure Junior behaves, right, guys?" She asked and all the adult characters said yes. I think Lettuce just wanted to included.

"Hi." Aunt Jane stared at them.

"It's ok. We're characters from Cocoa's books. We're not ghosts." Aria, Tara's sister, explained.

"Oh, good." She looked confused and pale.

"Aunt Jane doesn't look too good." Ruke told me.

"Duh, we can see that." Harrison smart-mouthed.

"Don't be mean to your sister. Someone catch her!" Sophie noticed her falling. Lucas and Draco got her.

"Let's put her on the couch." I helped guide them to the living room. They put her on it and decided to leave her alone until she woke up by herself. I poked her face.

"Aunt Jane?" I poked her face again. She didn't wake up.

"What happened... She met them, huh?" Daddy came downstairs and saw us in the living room.

"Yeah. She got scared and fainted." I said.

"Go back in Cocoa's brain and don't come out until I say so." Daddy told them and they left.

"Where's Mom?" Jazz bounced in.

"She fainted." I pointed to her.

"What, why?" She looked at her mom.

"One of you come out. Not the villains." Daddy decided. They chose Cocoa the dog, Dellia's pet.

"Outside time!" She ran around the living room before wanting to be petted.

"Really?" Daddy sighed.

"We panicked." Lok replied.

"A ghost puppy." Jazz pet Cocoa's tummy.

"Writer Cocoa made my owners. I luv dem and her. You smell like food." She licked Jazz's hand.

"I'm a writer. The ghosts are my characters." I explained better.

"Oh. Who's a good dog? I can read your stories?" She tried to talk to me and play with Cocoa.

"Yeah." I pet Cocoa, too.

After Aunt Jane woke up, we had lunch. Junior didn't look at anyone. Aunt Jane asked how old I was and I said 17. My birthday was on the 19th. Daddy said Junior could maybe have cake on my birthday. She left after lunch. Jazz and me went out to play in the pond. Daddy said he wanted to talk to Junior.

Jack B. Nimble's POV

The girls went to the pond. Junior was still messing with the beans on his plate. I sat down next to my namesake. He looked up.

"Look, I don't like punishing you, but you can't yell at Cocoa for what I did. Or didn't do. The point is that wasn't the right thing to do." I told him.

"I know." He nodded.

"Tell you what: if you're good and get along with Cocoa for this week, I'll drop the punishment next week. Ok?" I saw the hope spark in his eyes.

"Really?" He half asked.

"Yeah. Let's go to the pond. I didn't take away that from you." I got up.

"Ok. Let me get my trunks." He ran upstairs. I smiled and I went to get mine.

Jack B. Nimble's POV End

Daddy and Junior came to the pond and we had a water fight. Junior was happy now. What'd Daddy say to him? He'll tell us later. Lucia stayed at the edge of pond. We had rope for her here so she couldn't run away while we played in the water. She stayed in the shade most of the time. We went back after awhile and I fed Lucia then we had dinner. It was waffles. They were awesome. Junior went to his room while we watched TV. He said of Junior was nice to me and good for the rest of the week, he'd let him have TV and ice cream and Mirriornet back.

"Thanks, Uncle Jack." Jazz pulled her braid back as Lucia nipped at it. Then Daddy made us go to bed.

"Let's go to sleep. I'll get your dishes." He pushed us toward the stairs.

"Nighty-night." I gave him a good night kiss.

"See you in the morning." Daddy said.

**Dellia and her family have a connection to fanfiction. Dellia was originally an OC for another fanfic called A Seeker's Bond by Adriane Star. It's a part of a trilogy. Wishes is the frist book. Go check it out.**


	2. Chapter 2

Chapter 2

A few days later

My Birthday

I woke up and smelt pancakes. I rubbed my eyes. Pancakes, yummy. I got changed and went downstairs. There were presents on the table.

"Happy birthday, Cocoa." Daddy and my cousins said loudly.

"Yay!" I clapped, excited.

"Birthday pancakes." Lettuce gasped.

"How many do you want?" Daddy asked.

"All of them." I sat down.

"You can't have all of them. I want some too, Cocoa-bear." Daddy pouted.

"Ok, Daddy. I'll share." I told him.

"How many, Sweetie?" He asked again.

"Five." I bounced in my seat. Mom couldn't make me pancakes a lot so I was...n't happy. Mom didn't remember me. Or my real Dad.

"Cocoa?" Jazz noticed.

"I miss my mom." I held my arms out for a hug. Daddy hugged me.

"Sorry. Junior, flip the pancakes. It's ok." He told him to flip our breakfast. I whimpered. Jazz kinda shuffled around. Daddy comforted me until I felt better. It wasn't the frist time I suddenly remembered them. I didn't like these memory attacks, but I didn't want to forget them.

"You ready to eat?" Junior had made all the pancakes. I nodded. We ate and I opened presents. Daddy got me a laptop and a key, but he wouldn't tell me what it was for. Aunt Jane got me a gift card to a bookstore. Junior tried to convince me that the pancakes his gift, but Jazz made him give me my real gift. Candy. Jazz got me a BFFA necklace and a journal. She had the other half of the crown. Then my candle did the glowy thing again for even longer this time and was warm afterwards. Daddy had us run and climb trees and do the normal training stuff, too. I was sleepy after training so I lazed around with the blanket Raven made me and one of the teddies. I was hungry when I got up for lunch like I went to bed and it was 3AM so my tummy wanted food kind of hungry.

"I think your powers are coming. Jazz, didn't this happen to you? I know Junior got hungrier when his powers were coming." Daddy asked her.

"Yeah and cravings. Mine lasted for a few months so the cramps got bad," She looked at me,"You'll probably get moody."

"I don't wanna be in this family anymore." I looking at Daddy, I made puppy eyes.

"It's too late to cancel the adoption." Daddy told me. I whined.

"What's going on?" Junior came into the kitchen.

"We think Cocoa's powers are coming in." Daddy told him. Junior burst into flames.

"No, not again. She took over the house when she was getting her powers." He pointed at his sister.

"Normally, this happens for the girls after puberty for a few months. Since I adopted you, it might take longer or shorter than usual." Daddy sprayed Junior with the fire extinguisher.

"Imma gunna die." I wailed.

"No, you're not." He put the extinguisher down and got my lunch. I ate two sandwiches, some carrots, yogurt salad, a banana, lots of bite sized candy, had three glasses of milk, and a chicken drumstick.

"Yeah, your powers are coming." Daddy helped clean up after me. I was on the couch. I couldn't move. My tummy was full. I groaned in protest of Daddy's scary words.

"It's not that bad. You'll get better. Go nap. The Fire'll get rid of tummy ache." Lucas carried me to my room and I napped. I felt better. I went downstairs and played with Jazz's braid. She was on the couch so I could bat at it. I laid on the floor and she read her book.

"No, don't move. She's happy." Daddy took a picture with the flash off.

"Getting powers is like what?" Dellia asked, rolling her hand.

"It's like having your entire body ache, kinda burn, then you get cranky and if you don't eat enough, you could die." He told her and I looked at him.

"Wha?" I stopped batting at Jazz's braid.

"Uh, we have to go over some stuff, but not right now. You're ok." Daddy pet my hair. I went back to playing with the braid. This is fun.

Jack B. Nimble's POV

Cocoa was in her own world again. I'd have to warn everyone if the powers didn't come it before school started. I should check if Cocoa's extinguisher works. She might flare up at night or something. It happens if we feel intense emotions. When you get powers, the Fire is still wild and settling in. The Fire eats a lot as fire does. It going to be rough. We had to keep her calm, and feed her Fire, and have the family doctor do checks ups every month until the Fire completely settles. Not fun.

"My back hurts." Cocoa rolled onto her tummy and lazily got up. Shoving Junior off the second couch, she stretched out like a cat. Junior mouthed,"It's happening again."

"She's not taking over the house. Cocoa, don't push Junior off the couch. That's not nice." I said as sternly as I could without sounding mean.

"Ok. This is mine now. You stay off." She yawned.

"Cocoa?! Share the couch." I gasped.

"I don't wanna," She whined. I frowned at her,"Here you go." She tossed him the small throw pillow.

"Uncle Jack!" Junior showed me the pillow.

"I know. Cocoa, that's not what I meant." I stressed.

"Ehh." She lazily flapped a hand.

"Say sorry right now, missie!" The words tasted so awful in my mouth, but she was being cat-ish. Claiming the couch as if it was hers. Mom's cats whine when they don't want to do something or don't get fed when they think they should.

"Sorry." She softened her tone to a meek level.

"That wasn't so hard. Don't ever make me have to use that phrase again. It was gross." I stuck my tongue out like I ate something bad. The kids giggled.

Lucia dragged a toy to me and put it in my lap. I threw it and she went after the rope. She brought it back and went back to the bath tub. She liked the tub during hot days. We overheated easily. Skunks and Nimbles.

"It's hot again. Why won't the sun nap?" Cocoa said to herself.

"Let's go soak in the pond. Just float around. That sound nice?" I asked them.

"Ok." They got up and went to their rooms. I went to the laundry room to get my pair of trunks. The kids had a couple pairs of them.

Jack B. Nimble's POV End

We went swimming again. It was too hot to play like we did last time, but we played Bumper Boats with the floaty tubes. Lucia stuck her butt in the water for a little while to cool down. I spun around in my tube and sometimes hit somebody. Jazz liked to tug me with her when she went to try to swim all the way around the pond in a circle. It was big enough to get for her to give up when we got across the pond. I had to tug her back to Daddy. Then we were both tired. I made Daddy and Junior push me back and forth between them. It felt nice. Then we went back home and ate dinner. It was chicken and cubed potatoes. Daddy got me a car. It was sleek and fast looking. He got it in pale blue, but said I could get a paint job for it. I couldn't drive it yet. My license wasn't transferred to Ever After records.

"Thank you, Daddy. I'll keep it pretty and clean. I don't know how to fix it, but you do, right?" I didn't wait for an answer. I went to sit in the driver's seat. The seats were cream and the dashboard was too.

"Don't mess with the pedals, Sweetie." Daddy told me.

"Ok." I sat in the, my, car for a few seconds and got out when Daddy looked like he was going to explode.

"When your license go through, I'll take you out for practice." He breathed in.

"Yeah." I nodded. We went to bed after I got to see my car. I thought about what color it would be and I liked cherry red.

**Thanks to Adriane Star for helping me with the title of this fic.**


	3. Chapter 3

Chapter 3

The day before we have to go back to school

It was a day before we had to leave for school for the year and I had cramps. Mixed with the Fire, they burned and ached worst.

"Daddy, I need another ice pack." I yelled.

"Why did I choose a girl? Why?" He muttered as he took the warm yucky ice pack away.

"I don't like you either, Daddy." I yelled back.

"What did you say?" Jazz gasped at Daddy.

"Nothing. Oh, wait. I wondered why I chose a girl." The cottage was quiet. Junior would hide in his room until I stopped yelling. Lucia liked to chitter at him loudly through the door.

"You don't say that. Never ever." Jazz brought me my ice pack, "Here. Uncle Jack didn't mean that. He's just dumb."

"What did I do?" I asked her.

"Uncle Jack doesn't know how to deal with girl stuff." She sat next to me.

"It hurts. My tummy 'ploded." I held the ice pack to my stomach.

"I know. It'll get better." Jazz stroked my hair.

"I want nachos. With bean dip and gooey cheese. Maybe salsa. Yeah, salsa." I was hungry.

"Ok. Uncle Jack!" She left to get me nachos. The pain flared a bit, but I was ok. Daddy made me dumb nachos with normal cheese and no bean dip.

"Noo, these are wrong." I said as I ate them.

"Then why are you eating them?" Daddy frowned.

"I want them to be better in my tummy." I said through the nacho on my mouth. Daddy sighed.

"I'll help you pack, ok, Cocoa-bear?" He opened a drawer and put the pants in a truck.

"Ok. That one's for pants and undies." I pointed to the one next to it.

"Oh." He moved the pants to the other one. He got all the clothes in the trunks while I rested. The door bell rang. Jazz got it.

"Oh, hi Raven. Cocoa's upstairs. I... Ok." Raven came up and found my room.

"Hi. I'm getting fire powers like Daddy, but I got cramps now." I told her. She looked at Daddy, who was blushing super hard again cause he was holding my underwear when Raven looked at him.

"She's getting her powers and on her, um, uh." He turned purple, put my undies down, and left.

"Daddy, come back! You didn't finish packing." I yelled after him.

"Why's Uncle Jack purple?" Jazz came in.

"He couldn't say period." I explained.

"Cocoa!" Raven gasped at me, laughing. We did, too, until it hurt my tummy.

"Owie." I whimpered.

"Here, let me help." Raven sent out some purple magic. It felt nice like moving my hand through a sink full of cool water, but everywhere on me.

"Heh. Noo." I tried to swat it away, but it floated towards me anyway. I felt better after the magic soaked into my skin. My phone buzzed. I got a email from someone: DarCharm .

"Who's this?" I showed Raven my phone.

"Daring. Dexter got in my phone while we were studying one time. He must of sent our stuff to Daring. He's pretty nice, Daring I mean." She looked at her phone and opened her email. I did, too. There were pictures. They were at the beach. Daring had him in a headlock and was holding the phone. It looked like Dex was telling him something. The next was a snapshot of a post. It said, "Little bro's fine. We were play fighting." The last photo was of Grimm in a bathrobe, sitting on a chair. He had a drink in his hand and it looked like there was a fire. He gazed at the camera with lust. I barfed a little.

"Oh my Grimm, what the fuck, Daring." Raven swore.

"What?" Jazz asked as I went to go brush my teeth. I could still taste it.

"Cocoa? Where are you going?" She called to me. I brushed them and went back to my room. Daddy was there. He looked mad.

"We just got them, Mr. B. Nimble. I don't know what made him do this." Raven said.

"I'm calling their parents. This is disgusting. Are you ok, Cocoa-bear? Jazz said you left suddenly." He hugged me.

"I barfed in my mouth so I brushed my teeth." I told him.

"Ok. So you're fine," I said yeah and he pat my back and let go,"I'm going to call Daring's parents now." He went downstairs.

"... I'm hungry." I told Jazz.

"Again? You just had a snack." I told Jazz.

"I dunno." I shrugged.

"Fine. Wait here." She went to the kitchen. I found Lucia and we got her to do some tricks. Sit, stay, roll over then we gave her treats. Jazz came back with cookies.

"Yummy." I grabbed some.

"Whoa, slow down." Raven moved the plate. I whined like Cerise did we went in for a walk to the pond. She wanted to run all the way, but Daddy said we had to stay together.

"Give her the plate." Jazz scrambled for it. None of the cookies dropped so that was good.

"What does "getting your powers" mean? Cocoa said she was." Raven asked. I was chewing.

"We, the girls, get our Fire after puberty and we get other fire powers, too." She told her.

"Oh. What are your powers?" Chew, chew, chew.

"I can take people's heat away from them. Their body heat. All gone and into me. Then I can make fire come out of my hands like Uncle Jack can." Stare. Hide behind Raven. Chew.

"Scary." I peeked out, having finished my cookies.

"I don't use it on family." She reassured me. I nudged Raven closer.

"Hey!" She resisted.

"Shh, don't struggle." I pushed harder.

"Stop it." Raven said.

"No."

"I'm not going to take away Raven's heat. I try not to use it on people." Jazz told me.

"Ok." I stopped pushing.

"Why'd you do that?" Raven frowned at me like Daddy did when he was mad.

"Her powers could explode and eat everything so we gotta feed it." I explained.

"I guess. What's Junior have?" She looked at us. I shrugged.

"He can make scalding water come out of his hands. Or steam. And my powers won't eat anyone." She huffed.

"Well, I called King Charming and he put Daring on the phone. He said he hasn't seen that picture before. None of them have. We think his email might have been hacked. So, they called the police." Daddy came in again.

"So, he didn't do it?" I asked.

"No, someone else did it from his email." He explained for me. The pain was inching its way back to my tummy.

"More ice." I groaned. Raven's spell didn't last too long.

"You want to try some pain killers?" Daddy offered.

"Ok." I followed him to the bathroom. He got the bottle down and gave me two pills. I put them in my mouth and drank some water to wash them down.

"That should help." He told me.

"Yay." I smiled weakly.

"We'll go to the doctor if you get worst. Like up all night and can't nap worst." I nodded and Daddy put the bottle back.

Then we had dinner. Junior heard what happened and he was quiet the whole time. Raven went home after we ate. Daddy helped me pack some more. I folded, he put them in the trunks. We got most of my clothes done. We had to leave my jammies and some clothes for tomorrow out. I had to leave my teddies and Mr. Dragon behind. I could take one. I chose the one with flowers on its belly. He smelt nice like a meadow, but it was a subtle scent. The flowers didn't overpower each other. I had to sleep without my purple blanket, the one Raven made, cause Daddy said we had to leave first thing in the morning. It took awhile and I almost didn't get to sleep cause of Lucia chittering, but I did.


	4. Chapter 4

Chapter 4

The new headmaster and we got dinner

It took awhile to get to school. I needed lots of food and food made trash so we had to throw that away. And potty breaks. When we finally got there, my legs were full of energy. I got out and walked around. Then we had to get our trunks to our dorms. Daring and Dexter helped. They were sorry about yesterday. Since they were helping, they didn't get kicked out of the girl's wing yet.

"I don't know what happened. Someone's trying to slander my name. No one has ever dared tried to and I'll make sure they never do again." Daring growled.

"I know." Dexter nodded tiredly, but vigorously.

"Thanks for helping." I told them.

"Yeah, it's the least we could do." Daring said.

"So, get out." Mint swatted at them. The boys got out. Jazz was next door to me. I got my own space again. In the same dorm, too. I wheeled the trunks to their spots and thought I saw something in the corner. It was a cobweb.

"Cocoa? The new headmaster wants us to meet him." Daddy came in.

"Ok. I'm coming." I hurried and closed the door behind me. We went to Grimm's old office. It still had a harsh feeling to it. His presents clung desperately to the walls. It was being smothered by the new man in the chair. He was bathed in a kinder, softer aura. Yes, he was strict, but it didn't overtake him like it had Grimm. The man was a golden blond cloaked in a red suit drizzled with white emphasizing marks and gold buttons. He was bronze, a bit taller than me, and handsome.

"Ah, you came." He stood up and shook Daddy's hand.

"Hi." I waved. He looked at me and I froze, mesmerized. Is how the other girls feel around Daring?

"I'm very sorry about Grimm. I'm Damian." He shook my hand, smiling. He smelt nice, a little musky, but clean. What a pretty blue. His eyes had flecks of light green in them.

"Why did you want to meet us?" Daddy asked.

"I wanted to apologize for his behavior and let you know I'll understand if you have to leave for any reason." He smoothed his neck length hair back out of his face, still looking at me. Why'd he have to be so hot? Don't blush, don't do it or I'll murder you, cheeks.

"Ok. There's something I have to tell you. Cocoa, you can go now." Daddy waved at me. He was going to tell Damian about my Fire. I stumbled out.

Jack B. Nimble's POV

Cocoa left and closed the door.

"Ok, Cocoa's getting her powers so she might light on fire if she's upset." Damian's eyes widened. He hadn't been in school with a Nimble.

"What?" He asked.

"It's part of the family blessing. We don't want the 1920 incident to happen again." I said. He thought for a minute then nodded.

"Should I tell her tell her other teachers?" He asked.

"Yeah and call me when that happens. How old are you?" He looked as old as me, 27. I starting teaching after college.

"28. It's my frist year at a big school so don't get mad at me." He scratched his head, smiling.

"Everyone's nice here. Don't worry." I told him.

"So, you want me to call you when Cocoa catches fire and tell her other teachers, right?" Damian wanted me to clarify.

"Tell the teachers first." I said.

"Got it." He nodded and wrote it on a sticky note.

"I should go set up my classroom. See you." I left.

"Uh, bye." He called after me.

Jack B. Nimble's POV End

I was in my room again. We didn't have class. Daddy was a teacher and needed a couple days to set up. That's why we had to go today. I unpacked and saw my schedule was Econ, English, art, writing with Daddy again. I just had to focus for two months-ish and I was free. Yay. Today's my whatever day though. Jazz came into my dorm.

"Hey, what're you doing?" She asked. She had her purse.

"I wanna rest." I complained.

"It's just a quick trip into the village." She begged.

"Promise or I'll burn everything you buy." I threatened.

"An hour at most." Jazz put her hand up.

"Everything." I hissed. She gulped.

We took my car, which was still blue, and went to Book End village. I got some perfume, it was apple rose scented, some boots, and chocolate bar shaped wallet. The boots were cream brown and had gold buckles for decoration. They went up to my lower calves. I could run in them if I had to. They had a zipper on the back to get them off. Jazz got several things of lotion, eyeliner, eyeshadow, foundation, just lots of makeup. Some of it was for me like a third of the bag. She was convinced I needed to have some. I'd shove it all in a drawer when we got back.

Her birthday was next month so I had some time to save up some money for her present. The money is the present. That made it easy and I could put it in the card. My makeup looked like it'd match my skin, but I was tricky. Being half Asian and a quarter Greek and white gave me an olive tone and almond eyes. I turned a lighter shade in the winter.

"So, where'd Uncle Jack take you?" Jazz asked.

"We went to see the new headmaster. He said he understood if I had to leave and say sorry about Grimm." I told her, trying not to think about his smile. It was pretty.

"What's his name?" She looked at me.

"Damian. His frist name. That's his frist name: Damian. Yeah." I babbled.

"Is he cute?" She teased.

I felt my cheeks get hot,"Uh..."

"Oh my Grimm, what'd he look like?" Jazz squealed.

"Like athletically built and he had perfect teeth. Golden blond hair, bronze, deep blue eyes, but they had green in them." I explained, excited.

"He does sound cute." She nodded.

"He totally is." I reassured her.

Damian's POV

I felt a sneeze coming,"Ah-coo." Weird, I just dusted a few days ago. I had to talk with Jack B. Nimble again. What was the Fire? How'd it work? Did I get my other suit from the cleaners? What was this Royal/Rebel thing going on? I'm hungry. Does Apple White really go here? Where's my snack? I just saw it a minute ago. Oh, here it is.

I peeled the top off of the fruit gummies and popped one into my mouth. I saw a piece of paper in my snack drawer. I pulled it out and unfolded it.

It said, "Dear Cocoa, you're a ungreatful little bitch. I gave you a place to learn and grow away from the other writers. I taught you, but you had to run to Jack and lie about what I did for you. I hope you're happy now. He better not mess you up.-Grimm." I stopped chewing and put the little pouch of gummies down. I called for Jack. I put the letter down and waited for him. I don't know everything that happened, but it was enough to make the letter disgusting. He kidnapped and abused her and tried to make her stop therapy when he found out.

"What do you need?" Jack had finally made it.

"I found a letter in my desk. It's for Cocoa from Grimm." I said.

"God dammit. That man is nothing short of crazy. I'll call Office Dawson to get this." Jack sighed, getting out his phone.

"Can I go get lunch?" I asked him.

"I guess, but hurry back." He told me and went to the Casteltria. What food do they have here? I hope it's good.

Damian's POV End

We went back to our dorms and I took a nap. I was tired. I think I dreamed of something, but I can't remember what. Oh, well. It wasn't important. I just like to think about my dreams. I looked at my phone.

A text from Daddy:_**Cocoa, Damian found a letter in his desk. Grimm wrote it to u. I gave it to Dawson. **_

Grimm wrote a letter to me? He probably said mean things.

_**Ok. Was it bad? The letter. **_I asked Daddy, still in my bed.

_**Uh, yeah. You'll see it after the trail. Or during. Idk, but you'll see it sometime.**_

_**K. Can we eat out for dinner? I want a hamburger. **_What was there again? I got Earth restaurants confused with the ones are here. Not Burger King or McDonald's though. I know those are from Earth.

_**Fine. Hext Jazzy and Jr. We leave 5. Crownie's. **_I liked Crownie's. They had good fries and toys. I started a Crownie toy collection. So far, I have 13.

_**Yay! Luv u, Daddy. **_I rolled onto my tummy.

_**Luv u, too. **_He sent back. I texted Jazz and Junior that Daddy was going to take us Crownie's for dinner.

_**Yummy. R u going to get Crownie kid's meal again? Or a big girl burger? **_Jazz wanted me to eat an adult burger. I tried explaining to her that I wanted the toys, but she didn't understand. My phone buzzed while I was typing to Jazz. It must of been Junior. I'd get to him in a minute.

_**I dunno. Do they have a new toy out? **_I sent it to Jazz and looked at my new hext. It was Junior.

_**I guess I can go. **_Junior's hext had a shrugging smilely.

_**Ok. I'll tell Daddy. **_I typed quickly and told Daddy them could make it. He sent a ok.

I played on my laptop for a little bit and messed with Flower the teddy bear. I was so bored, I took a shower. After that, it was almost time to go and I got dressed and found Daddy and my cousins outside in the parking lot. Daddy drove us to Crownie's in my car. The one we went to had a playground. Daddy ordered and we found a booth. I got fries and Double Cheeseburger. Jazz was happy, but I wanted my toy.

"You'll get your toy next time, Sweetie." Daddy told me.

"Ok." I ate my fries. They tasted extra salty today. We sat and talked about stuff. Then we went back to school.

My door was unlocked. The doors are suppose to lock. Maybe it broke. Did this happen this morning? No, I don't think so. I scanned my room. My bed was made like the hotel. I didn't make my bed. I caught a whiff of my perfume. Someone sprayed it. Where was the smell coming from? It was on the corner of my dorm where I though I saw the cobweb. Now, there was something there. A piece of paper. I picked it up. It was blank, but it had my perfume on it. It was giving me a headache so I wanted to put in it a bag, but I had to tell someone what happened. I walked to the door when I got sleepy. Super sleepy and I found myself on the floor with the world sideways and growing dark.


	5. Chapter 5

Chapter 5

"I' m ok."

I woke in a hospital room again. I guess I would go to the hospital after passing out from something in my room, which was messed with. I groaned trying to sit up.

"Cocoa!" Uncle Badwolf cried. He made me sat back down. My body felt like it was filled with fuzz.

"What happened?" I asked slowly.

"Someone went into your room and filled it with enchanted gas and it made you pass out. The doctors said you would've died if Jazz hadn't heard you fall." He told me with worry seeping out of his body.

"Why would someone kill me?" I rubbed my eyes.

"I don't know, but I sense Grimm has something to do with it." His eyes flashed yellow.

"Oh yeah." I frowned.

"Cocoa, my poor baby. I was so worried." Daddy dropped his stuff and hugged me. I hugged back. Jazz and Junior were behind him.

"I'm ok." I yawned.

"Someone tried to kill you. That's not ok." Junior said and Daddy flared a bit.

"What's gonna happen now?" I looked at them.

"Cerise could be your roommate." Uncle Badwolf blurted out.

"Yeah, she could keep an eye on things and she's quiet so she won't bother you." Jazz came up with reasons for us. I nodded.

The doctor came to check up on me. My family had to leave until later. I stayed in the hospital for a week more then was let out. I had to be careful since I was recovering. I missed the frist week of school, but I could catch up easily-ish. Econ was hard. Daddy helped me where he could. Soon, fall was two thirds over and I finished my classes and now was bored. I was supposed graduate, but I couldn't yet. Daddy wanted me to have my very own cermony. I just wanted my paper thingy. And gifts. Daddy said he'd give me something for graduating. Damian had to help Daddy plan my ceremony. I didn't have to sign the book yet. I had until Junior's graduation.

"Hey, Cocoa. How's it going?" Cerise asked me.

"Bored." I pushed back from my desk. I didn't want to write anymore.

"That's all you do anymore. Take a break. No computer." She added. I groaned.

"I'm bored of school. I wanna go somewhere." I whined.

"Don't we all?" She laughed. She kept her hood down while she was here in our dorm. I got her to wear clip-on earrings with me. Her earrings were dangily crystals. I reached up and batted at one. She growled. I tried to growl, but ended up making a "rrr" sound.

"Almost." She said, trying not to smirk.

"I know." I pouted. I'd never get it. I wasn't half Wolf like her.

"Look, I gotta go back to class. Don't go out of the county, ok?" Cerise looked at me, putting her hood up.

"That was one time." I huffed.

"Either way, don't do it. Uncle Jack almost learned how to fly Nimble style." She waved bye-bye. I discovered I could use my Fire abstractly since my powers stilll haven't shown, which was ok. I went to Blue Cherry, my car(it's red now), and found Sparrow looking under the hood of BC.

"Hey, what're you doing?" I shouted and he jumped.

"I was walking when I heard a noise from your car." He didn't look at me, turning back to my car's guts.

"Right. You skipped class to walk and you just happened to hear something in my car. Do you really think you can pawn that?" I asked, walking towards him.

"I'm not stupid, Cocoa. Your dad'd be so pissed. I'm a smart thief. Wait, I think hear it again." He hushed me. I waited for him to stop messing around, but I heard a small chittter. He reached in and tried to catch whatever was in there. He pulled out a ferret looking thing by the neck.

"A weasel." Sparrow set it on the ground and we watched it run away.

"Thanks." I said as he smirked. His olive eyes twinkled playfully.

"Not good enough, Sweetheart. If you really want to thank me, you'll let me drive." He closed the hood.

"No way. I'm not helping you skip." I crossed my arms.

"Too bad. I know a cool place." He opened the back passenger door and got his guitar out.

"You picked the lock just to keep your guitar off the ground?" I scoffed.

"You're lucky I didn't decide take anything." He growled.

"Get back to class, Sparrow." I opened the driver's door and got in.

"Why should I?" He opened the front passenger door, not angrily, but in curiosity.

"You're a senior now. You want to graduate this year, right?" I asked him. He pretended to think and put his guitar in the back again.

"I can miss a few classes." He sat in the front. I sighed.

"Sparrow..." I started.

"Chill, Cocoa. My dad wasn't the best student ever and I'm not either. 'Sides, I tend to slip away." He smiled.

"Was that suppose make me feel better?" I started Blue Cherry and we were off. Well, there's no way I could left the county now. Not with him. He had me stop to get us coffee. Yeah, us. Mine was hazelnut, his pumpkin. He directed me to an abandoned cabin. (**A/N the one from True Heart's Day part 3**) It looked well kept. I had to park at the end of driveway and we walked up from there. The main room was empty except for a few stage lights.

"This is where we practice when I write a new song, but it's not what I wanted to show you." He led me to a porch on the upper floor. I could see forests and mountains in the distance.

"It's almost like the view from home except more forest." I said.

"Glad you like it." He sat on a lawn chair. I did, too. He started strumming his guitar and I listened to him play. It turned into a soft sweet melody.

"You know if you played more like this and stopped playing riffs when ever you speak, people'd like you more." I told him.

"I know. I've been trying not to." Sparrow looked at me, still playing his melody. I thought and couldn't remember Hunter complaining recently.

"Why'd you bring me here?" I asked slowly.

"You seem cool," He shrugged. I didn't quite believe him,"Can I ask you something?"

"Sure." I nodded.

"Do you like me?" His fingers absently plucked the strings of his guitar. The melody was almost the same, but there was something else to it now.

"I guess. Wait, as what?" I raised my eyebrow.

"As a person." He faced me, waiting.

"I don't know yet." I shrugged.

"So, do you want to hang out again? After this, I mean. Not right after, but you know..." He blushed.

"And I thought you were smooth. Sure, why not?" I looked at him. He stopped playing his guitar and put it in its case.

"I am, you're just cute." He shot back.

"Take that back." I gasped.

"No, you are cute." He crossed his arms.

"Then you're handsome." I made him blush deeper.

"I knew it." Sparrow grinned confidently.

"Whatever." I shook my head.

"Are you wearing perfume? I thought smelt apples and roses coming off you when we were in the car." He asked.

"Yeah, why?" I tilted my head.

"Just asking." He said slowly.

"So, when do you want to go back?" We had been out for maybe a couple hours now.

"To school? Never." I smiled.

"I should hext Daddy." I got my phone out and typed: _**I'm not in school. I wanted to go out.**_

He asked: _**How long have u been out?**_

_**A couple hours. Why?**_

_**Just come back b4 dinner, ok?**_

_**Ok. Love u. **_I typed back.

_**Luv u too **_Daddy sent.

"What'd he say?" I could see Sparrow's breath. He was probably getting cold.

"I have to be back before dinner. Let's go inside." I put my phone back in my pocket.

"Sure," Sparrow followed me inside and as we were walking down the stairs, asked after grabbing my hand: "Did you like it? My melody."

"Yeah." I said as we got to the main room. Two guys with guitars were messing with the lights.

"Sparrow? Who's that?" The one with green hair asked him.

"This is Cocoa, Jack B. Nimble's daughter, 'member?" Sparrow shook his head a little. Green hair nodded once he remembered me or the stories about me.

"You tell us not to bring our girlfriends and you bring yours." The one with brown hair frowned.

"She's not my girlfriend, Tucker." Sparrow snarled, letting go of my hand. Then added in a low whisper, "I can focus when girls are around."

"Ok, geez. Come help set up. Uh, Cocoa, you can do whatever. I got some snacks in my bag." Tucker pointed to green and yellow bag. I dug through it, finding a cereal bar. I watched them set up and more band mates came. I listened to their small talk as they worked. I guess the no girlfriends rule was a big deal. Sparrow kept insisting I wasn't his.

"For the last time, she's not my girlfriend." He said, frustrated.

"Then what were you doing before we got here? We saw her car." Tucker asked. The band turned to look at me, worried and curious.

"We hung out on the upstairs porch. He played his guitar. No naughty stuff at all. You can check if you want." I said, making Sparrow's eyes widen and jaw drop.

"No, we believe you." Tucker turned to look at his friend. Translation: We don't want to check _you _for love marks.

"Dude, she's telling the truth. I'd never do something like that." Sparrow protested.

"We both know you could if you wanted." He stated in a serious tone.

"Fine." Sparrow took his vest and hat off then his shirt. I walked to the boys to go make fun of Sparrow. His chest was free of any hickies or bite marks Tucker feared to find. His back had two circular scars, one under his right shoulderblade and the other below that one.

"Where'd these come from?" I asked him, touching the one directly below his shoulderblade.

"Uh, archery practice with my dad. It was an accident. They're pretty old. A-are you rubbing them?" He stuttered. I was tracing them with my thumb in a figure eight and running my fingers up and down his spine.

"I'm tracing them." I replied.

"Oh. It feels great." It sounded like he was moaning. Whoa, I did that? I made a guy moan. I paused too long and he turned around.

"Sorry." I said.

"No, it's fine. You want my number?" He smiled at me, brushing my hair behind my left ear.

"Ok. I'm gonna go back now. Bye." I let him put his number in my phone and went back to my car. It smelt like hazelnut and pumpkin. Our coffee cups were empty. I would have gone window shopping and maybe got cookies if I went alone. But I liked it: hanging out with him.

Staring the car, I went back to school and then my dorm. I just messed around on the Mirrornet until Cerise came in.

"Hey, how was it? Your day out." She asked.

"I got coffee and drove around." I said, wanting to leave Sparrow out of it.

"Oh. Hey, did you see Sparrow while you were out? He skipped Home Evilnomics. We made snickerdoodles and meatloaf. I put your doggie bag in the fridge." She jerked her thumb towards my door.

"I think I saw him at the coffee shop in a booth. I'm not sure though." I said while hexting Sparrow that I might of saw him at the coffee shop in a booth.

"Ok. Come on, let's go find Raven." She pulled me up.

"Yeah!" I agreed.

We found her with Maddie in the courtyard. They were drinking tea. Nevermore sniffed the air and I decided to play with her. I climbed up a tree they were near and tossed sticks at the dragon. She tried to catch the sticks as they fell. They just noticed Cerise.

"Cocoa? Great, she must have got distracted by a penny." Cerise frowned.

"She'll find us. Nevermore, what're you doing? When did you get all those sticks?" Raven asked her. Nevermore grew big and plucked me out of the tree. I waved as she put me down.

"What do you want?" Maddie asked, taking off her hat.

"Peppermint." I said.

"That sounds good." Cerise nodded.

She got out a kettle and some cups and poured the hot water into them. We sat at the small table and took some cookies. We talked and I felt my phone buzz. I worked it out of my pocket and glanced at it.

_**Ok. Wanna hang out after dinner? **_It was Sparrow.

_**R u taking me somewhere? **_I asked.

_**I'll hext u where to find me.**_

_**U're making me chase u? **_I frowned.

_**U'll like it, I swear. **_He sent a selfie of him crossing his fingers.

_**I better. **_I told him.

_**I promise, Cutie. **_I feel the smirk he had when he wrote this coming off the hext.

_**I'm not. **_I drank my tea. Maddie like to make it fresh so we had to wait a few minutes before drinking it.

_**R too. :) **_He said.

_**Whatever. Gotta go. **_I heard Raven say my name, "Yeah?"

"I said where'd you go today." She repeated herself.

"Oh, you know, the coffee shop. Drove around. Nothing exciting." I said.

"Where're you going with Spar-" Maddie started to ask. I dropped my cup of my tea onto my lap, it didn't hurt, but I hated doing this to my pants.

"Oh, sorry. I must of lost my grip." I gave back the cup.

"Are you ok? The tea was pretty hot." Cerise looked at the stain on my pants.

"Who are you talking to, Cerise?" I asked rhetorically.

"Oh right." She sipped her tea.

"I'm going to go change." I walked off and Maddie followed.

"I'm sorry about Charles. He's usually so good." She named her cups, great.

"How did you know about me going out with Sparrow?" I snapped.

"I saw you getting a hext from him. It said, _So, are you ready to go? _Why?" She asked, not noticing my tone.

"That's the future. Anyway, I didn't want to tell anyone yet. We're just going out as friends." I said.

"Ok. I won't say anything." She promised.

"Thanks." I sighed.

"You're welcome." Maddie giggled. We got to my dorm and I washed my legs then put on new jeans. We went back and she got me more tea. Not from Charles, he was in time out. It was dinner by the time we finished tea, well, I finished my tea. They talked. Dinner was nothing special. I found that I could finger-drum the entire American national anthem and sang well while I waited for Sparrow to hext me. Everyone at the table attempted to sing with me.

"What was that?" Dex asked, flushed from the effort of keeping up.

"Youtube says it's called Hello/How are you?" I chose to sing the English version by Ashestoashesjc. I took my phone off the table.

"That was fun." Raven laughed.

"I'm glad we're the seniors singing and not a bunch of weirdos." I was glad they decided to join me.

"Yeah." Ashlynn smiled.

I felt my phone buzz and hardly had to look at it: _**So, r u ready to go?**_

_**Yeah. **_

_**Go to the courtyard. **_I did and saw him waving.

"Not much of a chase." I mused.

"It's not that far." He told me. We walked next to the darken forest and something ran at us. It stopped when Sparrow said no, but I already jumped over it and was about to kick it with a flaming foot.

"Cocoa, whoa. Don't kick my buddy." He picked the animal up. It was a baby griffin.

"Aw, it's a little baby." I scratched its head.

"He found me a couple weeks ago. I never did get a pet. I wanted to focus on my music and thought a pet would take too much time away. So I hid my spell popper and found a dying bird, claiming I pulled my popper when a bunch of students did. I kinda forgot about my popper until I was cleaning my room. I went outside and pulled it. I said my name and he came. I think he's two. So, if I did pull my popper when I was suppose to, he would have been a hatchling." Sparrow put him down and the white speckled griffin rubbed his head on me.

"When are you gonna tell Poppa and Damian about him?" I asked, pulling the flame back into my body.

"Soon. I want to name him. Come on." He grabbed my hand and took my to a pond. It was a deep blue with a white reflection of the full moon. He laid out a blanket for us to sit on.

"Are you trying to woo me?" I teased, sitting down.

"You'd know if I was. Cookie?" He held out a bag. They were snickerdoodles.

"We should start hanging out in public, you know. I can't be dating you yet." I half teased, making him frown.

"If that's what you want..." Sparrow sighed, clearly unhappy with what I said.

"What? You don't want to hang out me in front of people? Other, not friends people." I jabbed him in the chest.

"They think I'm still a jerkass who only thinks of himself and his music. So, yes, I don't, but it's for your own good." His eyes dimmed.

"That what Daddy wanted to do, but I wouldn't let him and I won't you." I told him.

"Cocoa," He started as I made my pouty face, "Fine. We'll do something tomorrow."

"Yay!" I smiled. His griffin squawked, circling around until he rested his on Sparrow's lap.

"I hate you both." He smiled, shaking his head.

"Yeah right." I nodded.

"Let's name 'im." I pet the small beast.

"Ok. How's John?" He got whipped with his pet's tail.

"Is Riff good?" I got a lick on my hand.

"Wow, you like the frist thing Cutie comes up with. Traitor." Sparrow rubbed his hand. Riff snorted in laughter.

"It's not his fault you suck at names." I giggled as they started "arguing" about his name. Riff wouldn't let his owner even try to find a new name, growling and squawking as he did.

"Ugh, fine, Riff it is." Sparrow gave up.

"Isn't the moon pretty?" I asked.

"Yeah. That's why I brought you here." We watched the moon and stars, listening to the crickets. Riff was in the grass now, rolling in it. I felt the guitarist put his arm around me.

"Sparrow!" I cried.

"What?" Now, both arms were around me, his hands intertwined with mine.

"Let me go." I growled.

"I don't know. I kinda like this. You in my arms." He rested his chin on my shoulder.

"I mean it." I started to flame up. He quickly pulled back.

"Ow. That hurt, Cutie." I let him sit next to me.

"Yeah and I'll do it again if you don't listen to me." I promised.

"Ok, babe." He put his hand on his heart.

"What time is it?" I asked and he pulled out his phone.

"7:02, we should go back. Unless you want to spent the night with me." His eyes twinkled.

"Daddy would hate you forever after." I smiled.

"I don't want that. So, what are we doing tomorrow?" He folded up the blanket and we started to head back.

"You'll tell Damian about Riff and then we'll go window shopping. Maybe get ice cream." He licked his lips. I knew he'd like the ice cream part.

"Ok. What's your favorite color?" He asked out of the blue.

"It depends. You're not going to steal something for me, are you?" I looked at him.

"No, I just want to know." He said quickly.

"I dunno. I like lots of colors. Not super bright ones, they're just ugly. Yours?" I blanched.

"Green. Food?" Riff trotted ahead of us.

"Meat, fish, pasta, fruit, bread, sweets." I listed.

"Those are food groups." He pointed out.

"Yeah, I can't chose one. They all sound good. Except vegetables. I only like carrots, peas and potatoes. All the others are my enemy. Salad's ok." I told him.

"Well, there are worst things to make enemies with. Like people." Sparrow shrugged.

"You understand. What's your food?" I lit my hand to see better. Riff came back to see what my hand was doing with the fire.

"Dessert. Any siblings? I got none." The boy thief slowed to my pace.

"I had, have, some cousins on Earth. I wonder how they are. I want to go back." I frowned at using "had".

"Why don't you?" He cocked his eyebrow.

"Daddy wants to throw me a graduation party and have me meet everyone on this side of the family. The Nimble side. I don't mind." I said. He hmm-ed. My fire and Riff were the only things making noise now. We got back to the courtyard. Daddy and Cerise were there. Cerise came to me and Daddy to Sparrow.

"Where were you? I was worried when you didn't answer my hexts. Maddie said you were going on a "friend date" with him. He didn't do anything, right? Why did you go now?" Cerise checked with me.

"I'll kill you! If you so much as touched my daughter, I burn you so badly that your very soul will be scarred." Daddy was holding him up by his shirt, getting ready to set him on fire.

"Daddy, stop! He didn't do anything. We talked and that's it. I met his pet griffin. C'mere, Riff." I bent down and he ran as fast as he could and rubbed against my hand.

"Aw, he's so tiny." Cerise let him sniff her hand.

"Cocoa-bear, you scared me so badly. Going off with a guy at night. But you're ok, right?" He dropped Sparrow and bent down to look at me, holding my shoulders.

"Yeah, I'm fine." I reassured him.

"You're not allowed to go anywhere alone with him again. Not until I say so. Ok?" He hugged me.

"Ok. Sorry, Daddy." I hugged back.

"It's ok. I know you didn't mean to. But you!" Daddy whipped around to face Sparrow,"That was irresponsible of you on all accounts. You _know_ better. We'll decide what your punishment is tomorrow. Your father, mother, and I." Daddy told him.

Sparrow paled, "Yes, sir." He nodded stiffly.

"Let's go to bed, girls. Cocoa, your graduation ceremony is in a few days. Isn't that exciting?" Daddy led us inside. We brushed our teeth and went to bed. My last thought before I fell asleep was of Sparrow's scars and how he got them.


	6. Chapter 6

Chapter 6

Graduation day

It was the day of my ceremony and I was with Sparrow and Cerise. It was part of the punishment. We were window shopping. We had a few hours. I saw a shirt I thought was cute so I took a picture of it and put it on my Mirrorblog. Cerise pointed to Sparrow and he looked so bored. He was sitting on a stool and messing with his guitar with a bored face.

"When do we get ice cream?" He asked, strumming his guitar.

"It's almost time, Bullseye." I told him. People think I call him that because he's the son of Robin Hood, but it's really because of his arrow scars.

"Sweet." He sat up.

"What do you see in him?" Cerise asked me.

"I'm right here!" He said indignantly.

"He needs to expand beyond the Merry Men. And he's not afraid to tease me. Even though I can hurt him." I teased darkly.

"I get enough that from your dad. He's so pissed. I'm lucky to be hanging out with you right now." Sparrow looked around.

"What did you except to happen when he got your father to come to here? And stay." Cerise put back a red sweater onto the rack after deciding she didn't really like it.

Flashback

Sparrow's POV

Thursday afternoon

"Sparrow Hood, please stay after class." Cu-Cocoa's dad told me. I stayed in my seat until everyone left. He looked furious, but not the kind where you wanted to yell. This was worst. Mom came in frist. Mom was the Maid Marian. She was in her blue satin dress and wearing her cone hat. With blue eyes and strawberry blond hair, I looked more like Dad than her.

"Jack, what's the meaning of this? Sparrow, you didn't steal anything from him, did you? I told your father it would bite you in the butt." Mom frowned.

"I would be much happier if he had, Marian." Cocoa's dad stood up to kiss my mom's hand. He pressed his lips to her knuckles. I made a face. It was old custom to kiss the female of the tale on the hand in case a witch had taken her place. Witches hate that and they'll fling you across the room.

"Oh?" Mom asked.

"He'll explain everything once Robin gets here." Dad was coming? Crap. Mom sat next to me, wondering what I did. Dad came in ten minutes later. He was in a green tunic and jeans. He was using his belt quiver today. He had orange hair and olive eyes like mine. Dad was a strong man, but liked to use his wits more often.

"Jack, why did you call me? I'm on vacation from my own teaching." Oh, this wasn't going to end well for me.

"I felt that you have to hear what your son did in person. Go on." Cocoa's dad looked at me.

"I, uh, took Cocoa out to the pond after, uh, dinner." I waited for them to do something.

"Cocoa's your daughter now, isn't she?" Dad asked.

"Yes." My teacher nodded. Mom smacked me upside the head.

"I can't believe you did that." She hissed at me.

"That's not all he did. Cocoa told me everything, Sparrow. I don't approve of the nickname you gave her." He frowned.

"What did you do?" Dad asked warily. I launched into what I did with her yesterday. I got smacked a couple more times before I finished. They were shaking their heads.

"I raised you better than that. Taking her to the cabin? Dumb. Alone? You better hope we don't ground you forever! And the pond, no guitar." Mom was red. Dad was quiet, too quiet.

"Now, I was hoping to help you come up with a suitable punishment. Cocoa seems to like Sparrow. I don't want her to rebel and see him behind our backs." Mr. B. Nimble had a dark twinkle in his eyes and... evilness in his voice.

"Yes, that won't do. What do you suggest?" Dad asked.

"Well, I made a list of students I trust to watch him when she wants to do something. Here." He handed the list to my father. Mr. B. Nimble had a small smile on his lips.

"I see." He handed the list to Mom. She nodded as she read it.

"Is Cocoa going to get-" I started to ask.

"No, I talked with her and she was very sorry." He growled.

It was getting uncomfortably silence. Mom put the list on the table. She took a deep breath and said,"Maybe you should spend more time with him, Robin."

"Yeah, for an hour after school. Two on the weekend. Just us." Dad thought aloud.

"That sounds reasonable." Cutie's dad said.

"Ok, that's two things. What's the third part?" Mom wondered.

"Well, I found out he's been skipping some classes. Well, one class: Home Evilnomics, to be exact. If you don't pass that class and mine, you can kiss Cocoa goodbye, Sparrow. Quite literally." He knows I have trouble coming up with stories and writing in general. Cooking isn't my strong suit, either. Why learn when my wife can do it for me? And not burn everything I want to eat. I'm starting to see how Cutie can be enemies with vegetables.

"Sparrow, why are you skipping Evilnomics? You get to eat in that class." Dad looked at me like I was stupid.

"I burn all the food I make or it turns out bad if I'm not using the oven. Needle work's pretty bad, too." I admitted.

"You need to know that sort of thing. I spent months on my own. You can't pay someone every time you get hungry or rip your shirt. It's expensive." Rock stars don't have to worry about food.

"I know." I slumped in my chair.

"Sit up straight." Mom barked and I did.

"So, we agree that this is the best punishment for him?" Mr. B. Nimble summoned a piece of paper in a flash of fire.

"How long's my punishment?" I mumbled.

"We'll see how you do at the end of the semester." He put the paper in front of me. It had everything we just talked about on it. He must of been writing it while Mom and Dad were talking. There was a blank space and a few more in the paragraphs above for my name at the bottom. I signed it, seeing nothing wrong or odd, and handed it to Dad. He looked it over.

"You wrote this? I can't find any loopholes at all." Mom looked over me to see the contract.

"I dappled in contract writing. Enchanted fairy paper doesn't hurt either." Fairy paper was mostly used by artists. It gave their work a touch of magic without changing it. The enchanted kind was rare and used to steal souls. Steal souls...

I grabbed the contract. _This contract is between _Jack B. Nimble _and _ Sparrow Hood. No, not the right paragraph. Uh, where is it? The termination clause. _If _Sparrow Hood_ does not fulfill the given requirements by the end of the winter semester, _Jack B. Nimble _may deny _Sparrow Hood _of contact of any kind with Cocoa Evans-Nimble until he sees fit. Should _Sparrow Hood _contact Cocoa before the unspecified time, _Jack B. Nimble _may challenge him to a duel. _This wasn't right.

"You can't challenge me to a duel!" I yelled at him.

"I can. It's in the contract." He smiled fully now.

"You better not breach the contract. He's very good at fighting. Both verbally and physically. I've seen it. It's quite terrifying." Dad shuddered.

"Thank you." My teacher took the warning as a compliment.

"Jack! Don't talk like that." Mom turned her sharp tongue onto him.

"Sorry." He apologized with glint in his eyes.

"Are we done here?" Dad asked.

"Yes, you can go now." Cutie's dad told us. We left and I thought I heard him chuckle.

Sparrow's POV End

Present time

"Let's go get ice cream now." I couldn't find anything else I wanted here.

"Yes!" Sparrow punched the air as we left the store. Cerise walked between us.

"What flavor are you getting? I want strawberry cheesecake." Cerise asked me.

"Chocolate ice cream with little marshmallows." I liked marshmallows.

"I'll have to see what they have." He chimed in.

"Hey, Cerise. Hi, Sparrow. Where are we going?" Mint came out and walked backwards in front of us.

"The ice cream shop." I said.

"A ghost!" Sparrow cried.

"Hey, buddy. Remember what happened to Grimm? We'll do that to you if Cocoa gets hurt," Stephen stage whispered, holding his shoulders from behind. Sparrow froze, "But that won't happen. You'll stick with the contract and everything will be fine." He shook the hat wearing guitarist.

"Yes, sir." Sparrow said.

"Now, Cocoa, have fun. We'll see you at the ceremony." Stephen took Mint back in my brain. We got to the ice cream shop and Cerise got her strawberry cheesecake and I got my chocolate with marshmallows. Bullseye was still deciding.

"Hurry up, I wanna look around before we got to go." I complained.

"Uh, Mudslide. We just looked at clothes for half an hour, Cutie. Can't we just sit and eat?" He asked me.

"I wouldn't mind eating here. Don't call her that!" Cerise snapped at him.

"Ok. We'll be over here." I chose a booth and sat down. I just got my ice cream into a smooth cone of chocolate, tugging out the marshmallows that got in the way. Sparrow came and sat next to Cerise and in front of me.

"Give me a lick." I took his cone and tasted it. It had brownie and chocolate chunks.

"Oh, is that what we're doing?" Cerise swapped me hers for Sparrow's which he hadn't licked yet. Cheesecake was good, too.

"Come on, Cersie. Give me my ice cream back." He whined.

"Hang on, there." She gave it back to her cousin. Distant cousin.

We ate our own ice cream and I felt something rub against my foot. It felt like another foot. I stopped eating and looked at Sparrow. His eyes twinkled as he ate. I glared at him. I tried to eat, but it was so distracting. No, flirt later, I want food now.

"I'm gonna kick you." I muttered and he stopped. Then I sensed a body next to me. I looked and saw Duchess's white ballerina dress.

"Hey, Sparrow. Haven't seen you in while." She cooed.

"What is it, Duchess?" He sighed.

"Can't I say hi to an old friend?" She tilted her head.

"We're not friends." He said curtly.

"But still. I tried to hext you, but I couldn't get through. It's a good thing I saw you when I did." She waved at Cerise.

"You don't wander around the village. You get what you want and leave." Sparrow used to be friends with her and cut it off when he didn't get to go to the True Heart's Day dance. Well, that's what I heard.

"Go away, Duchess." I growled.

"I thought your father grounded you. You know, for going off with Sparrow. What was it, twice? I never would have thought you had the guts to. It's almost unreal, but here you are with Sparrow again." She bent down to look me in the eyes.

"What are you saying?" I said through my teeth.

"Well, I just thought since-" She started.

"That's enough. Go before I hurt you." I cut her off.

"You wouldn't even let me finish. Is that what all Earth girls do? Cut people off when they don't like what someone's going to say? Don't you know how rude that is?" She got up in my face.

"You're the rude one. Interrupting my good time to be a bitch." I spat. Cerise "Ooo"-ed.

"How dare you!?" Duchess pushed me into the booth and I hit the wall. My ice cream fell on the table. I used my angle to my advantage and kicked her in the head. She fell instantly.

"GET UP SO I CAN PUNCH YOU!" I bellowed, getting out of the booth. She struggled to get on her side so I kicked her again, in the gut. She groaned. I waited until she stood up to punch her in the face.

"Cocoa, stop..?" Sparrow said in a confused, scared way. He tried to stop me.

Duchess saw that I looked away and tried to sweep my legs out from under me, but wasn't strong enough. Her nose was bleeding a lot. I licked my lips before punched her in the ribs. This was fun. I smiled.

"Fight me." I put my fists up, not wanting to knock her out just yet. She did the same, if only to protect herself.

"Cocoa, stop it! Duchess, what the hell did you do?" Uncle Badwolf picked me up and set me down behind him.

"Why would you think that?" Duchess tried to do puppy eyes.

"You and Kitty always do this kind of shit. Don't tell your dad I said that." He looked at me.

"She got blood on me." I showed him my hand which had enough to coat my fingers. He sniffed the blood and was almost going to lick my hand when he stopped himself.

"Go wash up. Duchess, stop bleeding everywhere." I went to the bathroom and washed my hands. She had paper napkins stuffed up her nose now.

"Heh." I laughed.

"You think you're so funny." The swan girl snarled.

"I am, aren't I?" I smirked.

"You better go before she changes her mind. If she's anything like her father, you'll be in the ICU very soon." Uncle Badwolf warned her. I didn't get it. Did Daddy burn people so badly that they had to go to the hospital? He fought people before? Duchess left quickly.

Cerise was as confused as I was,"Why'd you say that?"

"It's true. My dad said he saw Cutie's dad fight before and it was terrifying." Sparrow piped up.

"Robin remembers that? Now, Cocoa, this is really important: Did you feel like you wanted to kill her or happy about beating her up? I'll explain everything when we get back to the car, but I need to know the answer." Uncle Badwolf said.

"I thought it was fun. Why?" I asked.

"No, this is bad. We need to go now." He picked me up and ran outside. Cerise and Sparrow followed us.

"What's going on?" Sparrow asked my cousin.

"I don't know. Can't be good." She shrugged while running. The Wolfs and Hoods in the shops noticed their family members and started following. Sparrow let out a strangled cry. Uncle Badwolf stopped when we were at Blue Cherry. He put me down and faced the crowd of adults.

"What's going on? We saw you running." A young Wolf asked.

"This is Cocoa, Jack B. Nimble's daughter. She got in a fight and enjoyed it." They cringed before they gasped and yelped in horror.

"I don't get it. What's that mean, Uncle Badwolf?" I tugged on his sleeve.

"Uncle?" Sparrow repeated.

"You know who Jack the Ripper is?" I nodded,"He became a legend and now lives in Ever After. He was a real person, but that's besides the point. Your grandma is his daughter, an illegitimate one. So, your dad is his grandson. He has his grandfather's blood lust. I think you do too now." He shuffled as he waited for me to answer.

"So, I can't be a doctor, now?" I joked.

"No, there's already a destined Ripper in place of your father. That's why you're a Nimble. Anyway, when your dad fights, he's brutal and tries to kill his opponents. His Fire and ability to Skulk are dangerous when he's mad." Uncle Badwolf explained. I nodded.

"And now I have those abilities too." Cerise gasped as she realized what this meant. Sparrow took a minute longer to figure it out. He just said, "Oh."

"So, what do we do?" A Hood asked.

"Here's the plan: You go finish shopping and I'll work out the details with Jack. Then we'll all go to the ceremony and eat. Nobody's going to fight and start a riot, ok?" Uncle Badwolf looked at them. They nodded and left, waving as they did. We went back to school and we found Daddy helping with chairs.

"Daddy, I got in a fight with Duchess. I kicked her dumb face." I told him.

"Why did you fight her?" He asked, trying to unfold a stubborn chair.

"She implied that I was slut and she pushed me and made me drop my ice cream." He frowned thoughtfully and stopped struggling with the chair.

"Cocoa said she thought it was fun fighting Duchess." Cerise interjected.

"Oh? _Oh_, you told her about my grandfather, right?" Daddy whispered.

"They heard too." Uncle Badwolf pointed to Cerise and Sparrow.

"Sparrow, keep your mouth shut about this and you might have a chance with Cocoa after your punishment's over." Daddy told him. Sparrow tried not to smile as he nodded. We need to talk about that smile ASAP.

"Duchess is going to going to Damian. WE have to tell him frist." Uncle Badwolf said.

"Yeah, Damian, over here!" Daddy yelled. We waited until he got to us and explained that Duchess was being a jerk and provoked me into fighting and that Daddy was related to Jack the Ripper so that meant I could kill someone if they fought me and I went a little too far by kicking her in the gut and telling her to fight me.

"I see. So, this is a genetic thing? Even though you're not related? How the fuck..." Damian rubbed the bridge of his nose.

"To be fair, I think it snuck in when Cocoa was getting her Fire." Daddy said.

"Probably." The red clad man agreed.

"So, what do you want to do about it? I mean, she fought a student." Daddy asked him.

"This is her frist offense so don't do that again, ok?" He turned to look at me. I nodded, not confident enough to say yes.

"Can we go now?" Sparrow asked.

"I suppose. Get ready after lunch, Cocoa-bear. Your gown is in your room." Daddy waved. The ceremony was at two. We left and fought our way through the maze of chairs. I felt Sparrow's hand reach back and squeeze mine as we weaved through the adults in the Castletria. I squeezed back. Cerise was faster than us and Sparrow got in front of me by sheer luck. The hallway was pretty much empty and I moved next to him.

"I would of kept up, Bullseye." I said.

"Couldn't risk losing you, Cutie." He smiled at me.

"What's that mean?" I asked.

"Cer-Cerise would be mad if I lost track of you." He lied horribly, blushing.

"Uh huh." I nodded.

"It's true. You know that I don't hang out with Duchess anymore, right?" He told me.

"I do now. Why does she hate me?" I stuck my tongue out.

"She's mean to everyone. Apple, most of all. She wants a happy ending for herself, but she can't find a way to get one so she takes her frustration out on everyone. She doesn't have any friends either and when you're hanging out with me that makes her extra pissed. But let's forget about that now." He wrapped his arm over my shoulder and pulled me close.

"Why don't you just pick me up while you're at it?" I huffed playfully.

"Don't need to tell me twice." He smirked and swept me up effortlessly. I put my arms around his neck so I wouldn't fall.

"Sparrow!" I cried.

"I almost forgot," He kissed lightly me on the cheek. I blushed,"You're adorable."

"P-put me down, now." He did as I asked.

"Cocoa, I'm so sorry. I thought you were behind me." Cerise ran to us.

"It's ok. See you later, Bullseye." I started to walk away, but he grabbed me from behind and kissed my other cheek. Twisting around, I bit him on the jaw, hoping it would faze him a tiny bit.

"You're just asking for it now," I was very wrong. He let me go after a minute,"Later, Cutie." He ran away, laughing.

"Wow, that was bold." Cerise said bluntly.

"I won't tell Daddy you left us behind if you won't say anything about this." I told her, still feeling his kisses. My cheeks were probably red.

"Deal." She nodded.

"Thanks. I can't believe him! Grabbing me when I already said bye." I went to her side.

"I know. Who does he think he is?" She agreed.

"Cocky bastard." I muttered.

"That's what he is, Cocoa." Cerise smiled and we went back to our dorm.

Sparrow's POV

"You don't know what you've done, Cutie." I touched her bitemark. I was hoping for a kiss and I got something else. Something I wouldn't mind happening again. She always interested me, but she was always looked busy and stuff so I left her alone and hanging out with Raven didn't help.

"Hey, Sparrow. Where are you going?" Daring saw me. I put my hand back by my side.

"Hey." I waved.

"So, I heard about your day out with Cocoa. I'm one of the students on the list. Dexter is, too. Did you really take her to the cabin?" The prince asked.

"Yeah. She had fun." I told him.

"Why do you call her Cutie?" Daring asked suddenly.

"I, uh. What?" I looked him dead in the eyes.

"Why do you call her Cutie?" He repeated.

"Where did you... Mr. B. Nimble, right?" I sighed.

He nodded,"He was furious when he learned about the nickname. So much so that, Dad had to have him use the punching bag because he was hurt Mr. Badwolf while they were sparring."

"I'm screwed. He put in the contract that if I didn't pass my classes, he would stop me from seeing Cu-Cocoa and adding that he could challenge me to a duel if I do see her before he says so." I pulled my copy out to show him, but he held his hand out in refusal.

"Already read it. It's sucks to be you. So, why do you call her that? Cutie." Daring would not let that go.

"I don't know. She's cute. And witty. I just want to do things- Hey, whoa, not like that! Geez." I saw Daring's smirk.

"Right." He said, still smiling.

"Shut up." I growled. Well, I did want to _those _kinds of things to her, but I'm not telling him that. Yeah, no. That's a horrible idea.

"You like Cocoa. I knew it the minute you said witty. You never call a girl that. Not the ones you flirt with anyways." Daring laughed and clapped me on the back.

"Yeah? What's it to you?" I snapped.

"I can't believe it. Our Sparrow's in love?" He laughed a bit harder.

"Hey, guys. What're we laughing about?" Dexter came up to us. Great, now two Charmings can make fun of me.

"Sparrow's got a crush on Cocoa. That's why he took her out." The blond snickered a bit.

"Oh, well, that's better than what Hunter thought he was doing. I mean, making her trust him so he take her car out one day and leave the country is a bit drastic. And time-consuming." I looked at the younger brother with a cocked eyebrow. What was that about? He shrugged.

"I like her, ok? That's why I call her Cutie. She's adorable and pretty and smart." I said in a rush to Daring. I blushed as I realized all of what I said was true.

"I'm glad to hear that, but the contract still stands." Jack was behind us.

"I thought you were outside." I felt myself blush harder.

"I was, but it's my lunch break now. I have to get ready, too, you know. Wear something nice, ok?" He went past us. We watched as the tall man left.

"Ouch." Dexter winced. I nodded and sighed at my luck.

Sparrow's POV End

I heated up the soup Cerise made for me in Evilnomics and stirred it. It was chicken noodle soup. Cerise was eating her ham. It was the thick kind. We had a little nook for cooking and a fridge. I think ours is the only dorm of its kind in the girls' wing, anyway. Like how Raven's and Apple's dorm is one big room. Last year, my room had both beds in it becuase the second room was being refurbished. We had a small living room with a couple cushioned chairs and the nook then it branched off into the hallways to our rooms. Cerise's was on the left and my room was on the right. We did our homework on the coffee table in the living room. She still has to do homework.

"Stir." She said between bites. I did.

"How much ham is left?" I asked.

"Enough." She polished off her plate.

"Uh huh. We'll see." I nodded. I looked at the plate. Half the plate still had ham on it so it was good.

"I saved enough for you and what you don't eat, I'll put back in the fridge." Cerise always seemed to sneak a couple bites when it came to meat. Even when she had a plate full of it already.

"Soup's done." I turned off the burner and scooped some soup in a bowl for her and one for me. I sat on the stool next to my cousin. We ate quietly. I had trouble keeping the noodles on my spoon and slurped most of them.

"Phwwt." Cerise slurped a noodle.

"Phwwwt." I got a really long one.

"Mom got your graduation present. It's really nice." Cerise spoke for the frist time since we started eating.

"What is it?" I asked.

"I can't tell you." She smiled. I whined. We finished our food, she brushed my hair, and helped me put my gown on. It was purple with red accenting marks. The hat was purple with a red cord. Then Daddy came to get us and we went to the courtyard. The seats were almost filled. I went to my lone seat behind the velvet ropes. Damian didn't talk for three hours so that was good, but I almost fell asleep anyway because his voice was so smooth.

"Cocoa, wake up. You're suppose come on stage now." He said a bit louder. I yawned and walked up the stairs. I saw Raven wave at me so I waved back. I got my diploma and shook Damian's hand. It was a brief handshake. Then he had me stand in front of the podium to say a speech.

"Uh, I'd like to thank Daddy cause he saved me from Grimm and that was nice. And Uncle Badwolf, too. I love them a lot. Raven and Cerise are very nice and stuff. Um, thanks." I walked to the other side of the stage. I didn't want to wear my gown so I lit my hand on fire to start burning it and walked off stage.

"Don't you even think about it! Grandma wants pictures." Grandma Nimble and Grandma Hood yelled at me. I blew a raspberry and put out the flame.

Then Daddy got everyone and we took a bunch of pictures. It took forever. I wanted food and go open my presents, in that order. Stephen and everyone came out and hugged me in between photos. Daddy had to split up the Hoods and the Wolfs' picture because there was too many of them to fit in one picture. Then Apple wanted to take a picture with me and that started a new wave of pictures, but it was the Royals this time. If Raven wanted a picture with me now, she'd have to settle for the hat cause I was going to burn the gown for sure after this next one. After Daring and his family took their picture, I had Darling, Daring's little sister and Dex's twin, hold my hat and I tugged off my gown and threw it on the ground.

"Careful, Honey. There's people here." Daddy told me.

"Can't we go one year without the gowns being burned?" Grandma Nimble asked.

"I don't know, but I'd like to see that day." Daddy smiled.

"Burn, burn!" I told the gown. It caught pretty quickly. I clapped at my handiwork.

"Get the extinguisher ready, BW." Daddy told my uncle.

"I know." He sprayed the burning cloth.

"Hey, Cutie. I thought you'd want some punch so I got you some. You burned your gown already?" Sparrow handed me a cup of bright pink liquid.

"Thanks, Bullseye. Yeah, I did." I took the cup and looked at him again when I noticed something was off. He was in a white dress shirt and a silk black vest. A lime green tie was tucked into the vest. He was wearing his hat, normal jeans and boots, though.

"You like it? Your dad said to wear something nice." He asked, which made Daddy growl a Wolf grade growl.

"Let the kids have some fun, Jack. Cocoa graduated today," Grandma told Daddy. He snorted in displeasure, "Come on, now. You already got the poor boy in a contract. The least you can do is let him hang out with her without you hovering around them all night long. Cerise won't let them go off somewhere. Or that Dexter boy."

"Fine, but I don't have to like it. Should I hear that you disappeared together for even a minute, I have every right to challenge you." Daddy promised.

"Yes, sir." The reason why he could get away with earlier is because Cerise didn't want to get trouble for letting him kiss me so she'd stretch the truth about how long she lost track of us. It came down what they said and how believable it was.

"Ok, Sweetie. Have fun, I'll check in every once in a while." Daddy waved at me to go get some food, but he looked like he wanted to hit something.

"Love you. Thanks, Daddy." I went with Sparrow and Dex, he was the frist to catch up to us (oddly enough), to go eat. Daddy'll be ok soon. I think. Probably. I'll get him some cake.

Grimm's POV

Later that night

I nursed my arm. My shoulder had gotten dislocated again. Luckily, it was time to go back to our cells. I was in isolation because the ruffians tried to kill me in my sleep. I sat on my lousy excuse for a bed. Where did I go wrong? Marcy used to be a good girl. And Cocoa, too. If only I kept a tighter rein on her, then this wouldn't be happening. Once I get out, I'll show Jack what it means to cross me.

"Hello, Grimm. I think you know why I'm here." No, it couldn't be. I'm hallucinating again, but just to be safe...

"Give me more time. I'm in motherfucking prison." I swore. The man had been bugging for months ever since I got arrested for murdering my wife and "neglecting my daughter".

"If I don't do something now, I'll never get my money. Even if it's just my paycheck." He smiled with an evil I haven't seen since Raven's mother got poisoned Wonderland.

"No, please. I'll get it to you your money." I felt a gag get put in my mouth and hands and feet get bound with some kind of rope.

"I disabled the cameras. I have so much planned for you." He opened his coat and showed me a large knife and several little ones. He plucked a small one from his coat and smiled. I saw a dark blur and felt a horrible pain in my thigh. I screamed.

"Hey, don't be so loud, ok? Actually, I have just the thing for you. It might take a minute to work." He blew some dust in my face. I tried to cough, but he stabbed me again, in the stomach this time. I was starting to feel faint. What did he give me?

"Maybe I should given you that before I stabbed you. Oh well," I heard him chuckle as he took something else out if his coat. It was a gold crown. He placed it on my head,"From one killer to another. For the time being, anyways."

Grimm's POV End


	7. Chapter 7

Chapter 7

A little after Grimm got stabbed

The after party

I got Daddy a cupcake cause I ate his cake. It was 8 now. I tugged on his sleeve.

"Oh, is this for me?" He asked, looking at the cupcake.

"Yeah." I gave it to him.

"Thanks, Sweetie. You know, I only want the best for you. Sparrow's just a boy. They're dumb and dear lord, will they try to woo you. I should know. I was one once. Just be careful, ok?" He bit into his cupcake.

"Ok. But he can't be that dumb. He has to tie his shoelaces so he has to be smart." I joked.

"Four years can tie their shoelaces. He's not that special. Don't let him say things like that. Make him prove it." Daddy told me.

"Ok, that sounds like fun." I smiled evilly.

"Don't be too hard on him. He dressed up for you." He gave me the last bit of the cupcake. I ate it happily.

"Hey, let's dance." Cerise took me out to the dance floor and we just kinda messed around, twirling and jumping with the music. Then the slow music played after the song we danced to ended.

Sparrow tapped Cerise on the shoulder,"May I take your partner for this dance?"

"I guess. I'll come back to get her after this." Cerise turned to leave and bumped into Daring. She put a hand on her hood before looking up. He half smiled.

"Would you like to dance with me? Apple doesn't want to." He asked.

"Uh, ok." She let him lead her away. Sparrow put his right hand on my hip and positioned my arm, above his shoulder with my elbow bent, with his other hand before he grabbed my hand. He told me that I should to compliment his action: if he moves his right foot backward, I should move my left foot forward.

"Just follow my lead." He said after all that.

"I kinda have to now. You made me the girl." I frowned.

"You are a girl, Cutie. It's easier for a beginner to follow. I'll teach you later. Then you can lead me." He smiled.

"Then you'll never teach me." I joked. He shook his head, still smiling. We stepped in time with the beat. I think we were going in a circle. I wasn't really paying attention to that. I didn't want to mess up.

I think he noticed cause he said,"Relax. You're in good hands." I took a deep breath and tried to let him lead. I wondered how long was this song was. It didn't end when I thought about. That's not how this works. You're suppose to end when I think so.

"Hi, guys. I'm on the list. We're on the list, actually. Just thought you should know." Hunter moved him and Ashlynn away from us. I looked at Sparrow and he looked at me.

"Ok then. Bye." I said to them. And then the song ended. He let my hand go and took his hand off my hip.

"Thanks for dancing with me, Cutie." He kissed my hand. I checked my fingers for the ring I put on. It was my birthstone, Peridot, in a diamond shaped with little real diamonds going around the edge of the Peridot and down a bit farther. The band was sliver. It didn't end up in his mouth, good.

"What're you doing?" Sparrow asked.

"Making sure you didn't eat my ring by accident. Raven told me you do that sometimes." I told him.

"Ouch, Cutie, that hurt. I wouldn't do that to you." He had a deeply wounded look in his eyes that clashed against his joking tone. I didn't like that look on him so I kissed him on the cheek.

"I know, but I don't want you to choke, Bullseye. Thanks for the dance." I saw his eyes lighten up at my nickname for him.

"Yeah. Hext me when you're tired of dancing." He walked off then Cerise came back. She looked happy.

"How was your dance? Mine was good. Daring's a pretty good dancer." Cerise smiled.

"Same. It was fine." I said and we danced a bit more then I got hungry. We went to the snack table and I took some crackers. Someone bumped into me and I almost dropped my crackers, but I didn't. Cerise took a couple and we ate them. They tasted like parsley and something bitter.

"Bleah, gross." Cerise made a face.

"What?" I asked.

"They have a sour, icky aftertaste. Like, uh, I just had it. What is it?" She thought. I tasted it, too, now. Ugh, that was bad. I needed water. I didn't make back to the snack table because I fell down and couldn't get up. I got drugged. It was getting hard to see.

"Cocoa, get up! Can you hear me?" Raven rolled me onto my back.

"Raven, what happened? I felt Cocoa's temperature drop." Daddy told her.

"I can't see anymore." There was a thing of static in my eyes and it covered my vision completely.

"Hello, 911? I think my daughter got drugged. She says she can't see anymore. Cocoa, what did you eat and how long ago was it?" He asked.

"Crackers. Ceriseee 'ad some too. Um, afewminutesago." My voice sounded slow.

"Her speech is start to slur. She said she ate crackers and her cousin had some as well. A few minutes ago. Can you move your fingers, Sweetie?" Daddy sounded closer now. I wiggled them.

"I think her pinkie moved." Raven said.

"She can't move her fingers." He told the person on the line.

"Jack, Cerise is throwing up. Red's going to take her home. Why is Cocoa on the ground?" Uncle Badwolf asked Daddy.

"She got drugged. Someone put something on the crackers. Cerise had some, too. Tell Red to not to take her home. Her cousin is throwing up." Daddy repeated.

"M-my tummy hurts." I tried not to slur my words. It felt cold and prickly.

"Don't eat that! Don't eat anything. It could be drugged." I heard Raven move and something fall to the ground.

"You're not to suppose drug everyone, Raven. You're suppose to just poison me. Look at what you did to Cocoa." Apple chided.

"I didn't drug the food. Why would I hurt Cocoa? She's my friend!" Raven yelled at her.

"Shut up! Someone drugged the fucking food and now my daughter's blind and can't move. Take your petty fight somewhere else, Apple. C'mon, Cocoa, talk to me. Don't fall asleep." Daddy told me.

"Wannago home." I wanted to hold Daddy's hand, but I couldn't move.

"I know. We'll go home for a few days." He held my hand.

"Where's the girl?" Someone asked.

"Over here." Daddy let go of my hand and stood up, I think.

"Where's her cousin?" The person asked.

"In the bathroom with her mom, I think. I'm not sure." Daddy said.

I felt my body get lifted up and put on a board,"Daddy-y, save meh."

"You're being put on a stretcher. You're ok." He said and then he walked with me as the stretcher was being wheeled away. I felt it move. Then after awhile, we got to the ambulance and they put wires on me. I heard a heart monitor. I was sleepy now. Losing your sight and ability to move was tiring. And the floor was hard.

"No, Cocoa, stay awake." Daddy begged.

"We shouldn't let her fall asleep. We don't know what she has in her system." Another person said.

"No, we can't. Her heart rate is very slow as it is." the first one agreed. I yawned and felt my eyes close. I couldn't hear Daddy anymore or the heart monitor. I tried to speak, but I couldn't. Uh-oh. I felt a shock go through my body. It hurt a lot. Then they did it again.

I screamed as the third shock went through me. It hurt too much. My ribs ached and my tummy felt queasy.

"Stop it! She's awake." Daddy yelled. I still couldn't see, but I heard a struggle.

"Sir, I will throw you out of the vehicle if you don't stop trying to grab the defibrillator." The frist guy said.

"Daddy." I coughed.

"I know. I'm here, Baby." He cooed.

"My ribs hurt." I told him.

"We're going to talk about that." The ambulance stopped and they rolled me inside. The doctors took my blood and stuff. Then I lost track of everything and woke up in a hospital room. Uncle Badwolf and Cerise were there with Daddy. He was sleeping on the chair.

"What happened to me?" I asked.

"You ate a drug meant for fairies, pixies, and witches like Raven's mom. It's used to torture and keep people with powerful magic in a normal prison cell if need be. It blocks their magic and so they can't move, but they can talk and drink so they can eat and beg for their life or death. You had a 16th of a milligram. Cerise had a 20th. I can't believe it, really. That it made that much of a difference." Uncle Badwolf explained.

"How long have I been asleep?" I asked.

"It's been a week since your graduation." Cerise woke Daddy up.

"Wha? Cocoa, you're awake. Why am I always asleep when you finally come to?" He rubbed his eyes.

"I'm hungry." I told them.

"We know." Cerise gave me an apple.

"Don't eat that yet." A new doctor came in. I haven't seen him from my other times here. He was almost as tall as Daddy and had the same green eyes as him, but had black hair. Actually, he looked like Daddy's twin.

"But I want it." I whined.

"You can eat after the check up." He told me and started the check up. I wasn't ready to go home yet, but I could eat real food. They took the feeding tubes out of my mouth. That felt funny.

"There you go. All set." The Daddy twin doctor smiled at me.

"What's your name?" Daddy asked the doctor.

"Dr. Ripper. I'm the next Jack the Ripper. Hey, you look like me." He noticed.

"..." Daddy kept quiet.

"You're not Jack B. Nimble, are you?" Dr. Ripper asked.

"I am. Cocoa's my daughter." He told the doctor.

"Grandpa just told me who you were last week. You were always such a mystery. I'm so happy I found you." He squealed. Uncle Badwolf and Cerise winced at his high pitch.

"Oh, good. Grandpa talks about me," Daddy deadpanned,"Wait, what? I've never met him."

"Of course you did, but you probably forgot. We went to your birthday dinner last year. There were lots of people there so I guess you didn't get to see me. You shook his hand." Dr. Ripper shrugged. Daddy nodded, suspiciously.

"I should go, but here's my number. We'll talk later. Bye, Cocoa." He gave Daddy his number and waved bye.

"Well, that was interesting. I guess you can cross meeting your long-lost cousin off your list of accomplishments." Uncle Badwolf laughed a little.

"He wasn't... Ok, he was lost, but I was ok with that. It's not like I wanted to find him." Daddy sighed, tucking the paper into his pocket.

"Crunch." I said before biting my apple. I don't know why, but I did.

"You're weird, Cocoa." Cerise smiled at me.

"Nom, nom, nom." I giggled through my apple.

"Can I come in now? I've been outside for awhile." Sparrow asked, sticking his head in the door.

"And I've been sleeping on a chair for a week, waiting for my daughter to wake up again for the second time this year. What the hell do you want?" Daddy snapped.

"I wanna see Cocoa." He said simply.

"Ugh, fine." He let Sparrow in. He brought flowers and a teddy bear dressed like him.

"Wow, a bear dressed like you?" Cerise snorted.

"I like Sparrow Bear. He's cute and cuddly." I held the bear to my chest. His hat fell off.

"His clothes come off. I didn't want you to rip them." He said before he blushed, realizing that it sounded bad.

"That wasn't going to come out right anyway." I told him.

"He could have tried harder," Daddy said, now standing,"I'll be right back. BW, stay here."

"Ok." Uncle Badwolf nodded and then he left.

"So, you haven't gotten in any trouble while I've been asleep?" I asked Sparrow.

"Nope. It's not fun when you're not there, Cutie." He smiled.

"You'll find a way to make it fun without me, Bullseye. I'm going home after I get out." I meant it. I needed time away.

"Then I'm coming with you." He pouted.

"No, you're not." I saw him cross his arms.

"Yes, I am." He was being so stubborn.

"You have school." I told him.

"Like that'd stop me from seeing my fav-" He stopped, choking on his words.

"Your what? I'm your what?" I asked after a minute.

"Uh, it's nothing." Sparrow shuffled.

"It is to something." I crossed my arms, ready to go into a full pout.

"Don't you dare use that face on me." He barked.

"Then tell me." I shot back.

"It's nothing, Cutie," I did my pouty face,"Ugh! You're lucky I like-"

"You like me?" I asked, a little surprised.

"Uh... Yeah. Why else would I buy you coffee and take you to the cabin?" He brought up our day out.

"I don't know. Wait, you didn't use the money I gave you to get my coffee?" I frowned.

"I got your flowers and Sparrow Bear with it instead. Well, his clothes anyway." He smiled. Then that means he gave me his change.

"Bullseye, you-" I started to scold him.

"I know, babe. But I don't mind." I heard someone cough. Daddy came back.

He stormed up to Sparrow and said,"You tell my daughter what she wants when she wants it. Got it?"

"Yes, sir." He gulped.

"And she is not your "babe", understand?" He growled at the thief.

"I understand." Sparrow whimpered. Daddy smiled and got out of his face.

"Jack, say sorry." Grandma brought me a cupcake. She gave it to me and grabbed Daddy's ear, pulling him back.

"Ow, ow. Let go, Mom. I didn't do anything wrong. OW! What'd I do?" Daddy sniffed as his ear was twisted.

"You don't get in other people's faces and yell at them. It's just rude. I didn't raise you to be rude. Now say sorry." Grandma let go of his ear.

"Sorry, Sparrow." Daddy pouted.

"Good boy." Grandma told him.

"I should go. I'll see you sometime. Hext me." Sparrow tried to ignore Daddy's glare as he left.

"Bye." I waved.

"You're going to let him visit, mister. How's our girl?" Grandma asked me.

"Good. I want more foods." I licked the frosting off my lips.

"What do you want?" She smiled.

"Onion rings and Sloppy Joes." I hoped they had Sloppy Joe's here.

"Is that like chili?" Daddy wondered.

"Yeah, on a hamburger bun." I said.

"Weird." He shook his head.

"I want one." Cerise liked to try new food.

"I'll go with you." Uncle Badwolf got up.

"Alright. Come on, we better hurry." Daddy and Uncle Badwolf went to go get my food. We waited for them to come back. Grandma was good. She made a quilt for me. It was at home. Daddy would get Lucia and we'd stay home for a few days. Daddy came back after while. The Sloppy Joe Daddy made was just chili, but it was still good.

"More." Cerise looked around for more burgers.

"No more, kiddo." Daddy told her. She did her puppy eyes. Daddy tried his best to resist, but she was too powerful. She got his half burger. I could almost see her tail wagging. She was learning how to switch between wolf and human. It was harder for her since she was half Wolf and not full like everyone else was. Jazz and Junior came later in the day. Cerise and Uncle Badwolf had to go back to school. Auntie Red got me a gift card to some fancy restaurant. It looked yummy.

"Hi." Junior waved, putting a card on the table.

"You're dating Sparrow?!" Jazz yelled.

"No, she's not." Daddy said quickly.

"That's not what-" Junior started.

"Everyone's lying. Go away now. Cocoa needs sleep." Daddy shoved them out. Aunt Jane stuck her head in and Daddy explained that I was tired so they had to visit later. They left a card for me and went away.

"I'm not sleepy." I told him.

"You've just had a lot of visitors, Sweetie. You're probably tired." Daddy nodded, wanting me to agree.

"Tv time?" I smiled.

"Fine." He got the remote and sat down in his chair again. We watched some cartoon I never heard of and I guess I took a nap sometime during the cartoon. Daddy left me a hext.

_**Had to go back to EAH. Da said I can't sleep the hospital anymore. Luv u. Visit l8r.**_

Da was Damian. I hexted ok and looked around for stuff to do. There were cards to read. I opened most of them and read them. They all said sorry and stuff like that. I burned the sixty something envelopes and watched them turn to ash. Then I aimed a small, pinkie finger sized jet of flames at the pile of ash, totally bored and half paying attention. I heard a crackle and looked. The flame and ash were swirling around each other in the air. The flame blobbed into a human shape and the ash covered the flame soon after it did. As the ash turned from gray to pink, I realized that this was probably bad idea. But I didn't want to stop it just yet. The human shape grew hands and feet then a face and hair. It looked like Sparrow. The mini Sparrow had a pair of boxers on and nothing else. He was about two and half inches tall.

"Hi, Mom. Will you make me more clothes? It's cold." Mini Sparrow asked.


	8. Chapter 8

Chapter 8

How everyone reacts to Mini Sparrow*

_*Name is going to change_

"What?" I stared at the tiny figure.

"Clothes, you know. Fabric stuff for your body." He said.

'We should kill it.' A small voice in my mind told me.

'No. Let's keep it.' Another voice said.

"Mom?" Mini Sparrow almost walked off the nightstand so I had to catch him up. And then I had to keep him. He was so tiny. I love him.

"You're so small. Are you hungry? Here you go." I put him on my tray holder with a cookie.

"Now, can I have clothes?" He bit the cookie.

"Hang on, Sweetie." I opened the rest of the cards and set the envelopes on the nightstand. I burned them like before and made him clothes then I scooped them into my hand, dumping them next to my son. After he got dressed, I Spellchatted a video of him saying hi to Cerise and Raven. I got a hext soon after.

_**What the hex is that thing? **_Cerise asked.

_**HE is my son. I made him out of ash and fire. **_I sent back. How dare she call him a "thing"!?

"I wanna see my face." He jumped up and down.

"Ok, ok." I put my phone on camera mode and showed him his face. He smiled a tad smugly as he admired himself. His outfit was like Sparrow's except he didn't have spikes on his vest. My phone buzzed and he fell on his butt.

"Sorry." I took my phone and looked at it. It was Raven.

_**What did u do?**_

_**I opened my cards & burned the envelopes. Then I shot a jet of flames at the ashes. And there he was. **_

_**R u going to keep him? **_She asked.

_**Of course I am. He's my baby.**_

_**Cocoa, think about this. He's just a magicked pile of ash. U shouldn't get attached. **_She said. Oh, she did not just say that. I called her and waited for her to picked. She did after the second ring.

"You shut up! I'm keeping him and that's that. If you ever want to talk to me again, you'll say sorry to him and me!" I hung up. Mini Sparrow looked at me.

"Who was that? Why don't they like me?" He frowned.

"That was a friend. She said you were just a magicked pile of ash." I growled.

"But I am, Mom." He pointed out.

"She also said not to get attached to you." I huffed.

"Oh. Well, that's mean. Don't listen to her." He hugged my finger.

"Thanks. We should name you. Uh, how's Roc?" He wrinkled his nose.

"I like Falcon." He told me.

"Falcon it is. I better call Daddy." I dialed Daddy's number. He wanted me to practice his number so I'd remember it.

"My dad or Grandpa?" Falcon sat on a napkin.

"Grandpa. Hi, Daddy. I think I found out what my power is. I made person out of ash and fire." I told Daddy.

"What do you mean?" He asked.

"I made a boy out of ash and my Fire. I named him Falcon. Well, I approved it. He chose the name. He looks like Sparrow." I added. I hoped he'd like Falcon. So far, it wasn't going so well.

"I need to see this. I'll be there soon." Daddy hung up.

"Grandpa's coming to meet you." I told him.

"When's Dad coming? Sparrow. Sparrow." He rolled Bullseye's name in his mouth.

"Oh, I should tell him." I went to hext Sparrow, but he did frist.

_**Cerise just showed ur Spellchat. We're coming with ur dad. Don't let the doctors take Falcon away.**_

_**Ok. Why?**_

_**We want to talk with him. Ur dad said this isn't suppose to be a power and we need to know what Falcon can do.**_

_**Do?**_

_**Yeah. Like can he shoot fireballs?**_

_**Idk. Why is this not suppose to be a power?**_

_**U created life! Do u know how many ppl would kill for that power? Armies at your disposal instantly. All loyal to u.**_

I looked at Falcon. He wasn't a soldier. He was a tiny ash boy who needed me to get him clothes. But I guess if I wanted to make a soldier, I could. Would they call me Mom like Falcon does? Would they kill for me?

"Your phone buzzed again, Mom." He told me.

"Oh, thanks." I looked at my phone.

It was Raven. She said, _**I'm sorry I told you not to get attached to the ash boy. But nothing good come from having that sort of power. My mom always dreamed of having a completely loyal army.**_

_**Falcon calls me Mom. And Sparrow already told me that.**_

_**They could murder for u, too. Or frame others, steal, smuggle. And wouldn't that b creepy? Being killed because "Mom" said so.**_

_**I guess. But I'm not evil.**_

_**True, but Falcon might b. What if he tries to kill Sparrow?**_

_**He calls Sparrow Dad.**_

_**Okay, that's a better sign. Can I come see Falcon? What's ur room number?**_

_**U gotta say sorry to him. 328. **_I sent it as Daddy and Cerise came skidding in.

"Ok. We're here. Nothing happened, right?" Daddy panted.

"No. Raven wants to sorry to Falcon and see him." I told him.

"Ok. They should be here any second now," Daddy waited for Uncle Badwolf and Sparrow to get in,"Cocoa says Raven is coming. Let no one else in until I say so, BW."

"Right." Uncle Badwolf nodded and changed into his half wolf, half man form, standing in front of the door.

"Hi, Grandpa." Falcon waved. Daddy picked him up between his thumb and pointer by his shirt.

"I didn't think he was this tall. Wait, did you just call me Grandpa?" He looked at Falcon with surprise.

"Yeah. Mom made me so you're my grandpa. Where's Dad? Sparrow. Dad?" Falcon wiggled around to see if he could find his dad.

"No, I'm not your father. Don't call me that again." Sparrow said gruffly after he figured out that Falcon was talking about him.

"Yeah, it's just creepy. Call me Jack." Daddy told him.

"But you are my-" He protested.

"Do as they say, Fal." I told my son.

"Ok, Mom." He stopped wiggling.

"So, what can you do? Shoot fire?" Daddy put him down to demonstrate his powers if he had any at all. He almost smirked as Falcon tried to eat more cookie before I moved him and frowned at my adopted father.

Falcon held his hands in front of him and tried to shoot fire out of them. There was a spark, but he couldn't make it any bigger or last any longer. He panted and bent over, resting his hands on his knees. We waited for a minute for him to recover. He did and I think he tried to raise Sparrow's temperature.

"That's more annoying than anything thing else. It's just a pinprick of heat." Sparrow told us.

"That's all I can do besides give Mom back her Fire. That's why I couldn't make my spark any bigger. I'm too tiny to do anything without killing myself." He flipped a fork over.

"Then I'll make you bigger." I told him. He smiled hopefully.

"No, not yet. Not here. At home." Daddy said.

"But Grandpa!" Falcon whined.

"No. I told you not to call me that. Can you swim?" He asked suddenly.

"I was just born so I don't think so." Daddy picked up Falcon and took him to the sink.

"Uncle Jack, no!" Cerise grabbed onto his waist. He just dragged her with them to the sink.

"I have to teach him sometime." He stuck my ash boy in the sink once he filled it up with enough water and taught him how to swim. After a couple laps around the sink, Daddy gave him back to me.

"You ok, Buddy?" I asked.

"I'm sleepy now and wet. I don't like wet." He yawned.

"I probably should of let him take his clothes off," Daddy thought aloud, "Whoops. Sorry, Bud."

"Yeah. I'll make you new clothes. Do you have anything I can burn?" I asked. Cerise dug through her pockets and pulled out some old papers and gum wrappers. I burned them and reburned the ashes and made Falcon more clothes. He pulled off his shirt, I think he tossed his vest and hat over by the sink, before stopping and asking for to have some privacy. I moved a tissue box in front of him.

"But you can still see me." He whispered.

"I'm your mother. Now, change." He pouted before taking off the rest of his wet clothes and putting his new dry ones. I put him back on the tray holder.

"So, what's up?" Sparrow scratched the back of his head.

"I learned how to swim and I met you and Grandpa. Can I call you Father? Or Papa?" Fal really didn't want to call Sparrow by his name.

"Not you, squirt. Cocoa. And no, those are just other words for dad." Sparrow looked at me like why do you let him say those things?

"Not much. I just woke from my week long comma and made a tiny ash boy who I love like he was my own flesh and blood. Oh, and I'm going to keep him." I said, waiting for it to sink in.

"You what?" Uncle Badwolf shouted, having left his spot at the door.

"Noo, I can't be a grandfather yet. I'm too young. And you're too young to be a mother. Cerise, say something helpful." Daddy curled up into a ball.

"You're going to make Sparrow help raise him, right?" She asked devilishly.

"Duh. Falcon needs a father." I smirked.

"No!" Sparrow yelled suddenly.

"Why not?" I asked him.

"Because, because he's not mine!" He pretended to sound confident.

"Sparrow, please," I softened my voice,"Daddy, let me keep him."

Daddy got up, "You're going to help Cocoa raise Falcon even if I have to make you."

"Thank you, Daddy!" I smiled.

"Now, Cocoa-bear, you have to remember that Falcon's made of ash and if he wants to turn back, you should let him. Unless he's getting bullied then don't or um, if he feels, uh,... You know." Daddy didn't want to say suicidal.

"Yeah. But I don't think anybody'll make fun of him." I nodded.

"I don't get a say in this, do I?" Sparrow looked at Cerise.

"Nope." She shook her head.

"Come on, Cutie. Let a guy have his freedom." Sparrow begged.

"Nu-uh, he's yours too." I shot back.

"You made him look like me." He growled.

"I'm sorry if I'm scared and just want you to help me!" I felt tears in my eyes.

"You really fudged up now." Uncle Badwolf rubbed my back.

"No, Mom, don't cry. I don't need a dad. I have Grandpa. Mom." Falcon made a face at me, trying to get me to stop crying. I smiled sadly.

"I just need a minute. It's a bit overwhelming to have a good boy like you for a son all the sudden." I explained, drying my eyes.

"Ok." He sat down.

"Cocoa, I'm sorry. I didn't think you were scared, too." Sparrow took a step towards me. Uncle Badwolf growled and his eyes glowed bright yellow, making Sparrow put his hands up. Cerise's eyes turned yellow.

"Why don't we go back home and let Cocoa sleep? Sparrow, use the Translocation app." Daddy saw how tense things were getting.

"I... Ok." He took out his phone and left.

_**Can't visit. Too busy. Apple wants her bed checked for traps. She's happy, but mad "I" poisoned u. **_Raven hexted me.

"Raven can't come and I think something's wrong with Apple." I said.

"There always was. No one got to see it is all. Don't read her fanfiction. Just don't." Daddy shuddered.

Uncle Badwolf looked at him,"I need to reevaluate my friendship with you."

"This is what gets you? Not the bottle to the throat or the time I messed up your date, but fanfiction? Wow." Daddy frowned in disbelief.

"Some of its good." Cerise whispered.

"I'm not getting into that evil." He sniffed.

"Really?" I asked.

"You keep that away from me." Uncle Badwolf walked out.

"We'll talk later. Bye, Sweetie." Daddy kissed me on the forehead.

"Bye." I waved as they left. I made Falcon a sleeping bag and we went to bed.

"I love you, Mom." He yawned.

"Go to sleep, Bud. You need it." I heard his breathing slow down and steady. When did I become scared? Did I want to take care of him? Can I even put him up for adoption? No, I can't give him up. I need to teach him or someone will take advantage of him. I can't let that happen. I'll need a babysitter just in case I get a job. Yeah, that's what I need: a job. The crazy people keep doing stuff cause they can find me easily. I felt my eyes droop and I fell asleep, happy with my decision.


	9. Chapter 9

Chapter 9

Going home

Daddy couldn't take anymore time off because he had to do paperwork so I stayed at Auntie Red's. I made Falcon big as Sparrow. He was born on December 3rd. I taught him how to take a bath and use forks so he didn't pick up food with his fingers all the time. All Fal wanted to eat was cookies when we frist got here, but I got him to eat other food too. He didn't like to take a bath without his rubber ducky named Mr. Awesome. I had to help him with his hair. Pouring water in your head didn't count as washing.

We were eating dinner when someone called. Auntie Red got it. It was Daddy.

"Hi, I miss you." I told Daddy.

"I miss you too. How's it going?" He asked.

"Good. Falcon didn't throw up so I'm happy." I said.

"Moom." Falcon moaned. He ate too much after I made him big and got sick.

"Well, that's good. Cerise says hi. She can't talk right now since it's dinnertime for her too. I hope that's ok." He apologized.

"It's fine. Finish your vegetables, Falcon. You want dessert, right?" I reminded Fal. He was playing with the steamed veggies on his plate.

"Cake?" He smiled.

"Yes, cake. How are you?" I wiped his face.

"It's ok here. I'd rather have you back." Daddy sighed.

"I know. I'll come back on Wednesday. Falcon's almost ready." I wanted to teach him before I brought him to school.

"Ok. I should go. Tell him bye. I love you." Daddy waited.

"Love you too." I said and he hung up. Auntie Red took the phone back.

"I finished the yucky stuff. Where's my cake?" My son looked around, referring to the half eaten vegetables on his plate.

"You can get it. It's in the kitchen." I pointed.

"But it's so far away." He whined.

"Don't start with me. I-" Auntie Red brought us a slice of cake each.

"I thought you'd want some too, Cocoa." She smiled as Fal ate. I started to eat my slice. After dessert, we brushed our teeth and went to bed. Well, he wanted me to read a bedtime story frist.

I "chose" Robin Hood. He helped do voices for the characters. I finished the story and cuddled with him, singing a lullaby and stroking his hair. Then I tucked him in and kissed his forehead.

I wrote a little bit before I went to bed. I missed everyone, but Falcon had to learn the basics before he could be with people. It was for the best. Duchess would probably get him to do something bad. I taught him Duchess was bad and don't go near her. Also, the black swan with a headpiece was Duchess. He was still learning names. He calls Apple Apircot. He got everyone else's names down for the most part. I slowly fell asleep thinking about my frist day back.

When I woke up, Falcon had snuck into my bed and was holding me to his chest. He was warm.

"You're up!" He noticed me stir.

"Why're you in my bed?" I rubbed my eyes.

"You weren't sleeping good so Auntie had to calm you down. You liked it when I held you." He explained. I must of had a nightmare. I can't remember it. Huh, that's weird.

"You kept the nightmare away, Sweetie." I told him.

"Yay!" He smiled.

"Let's go get breakfast." I got up. He did, too. We went into the kitchen. Auntie Red made pancakes. Falcon poured sryup on his after he sat down. I waited for him to finish and took my turn. We ate and took our plates to the sink.

"Where are we going today?" I asked.

"Uh, I dunno. Can we go play with the Wolfs?" Fal liked to lead them on chases.

"I don't think they want to play chase this early." I told him.

"Aw. Uh, jammie day?" He heard me call my nightgown jammies once.

"We can go to town." Auntie Red suggested.

"What's town?" Falcon asked.

"Town is where all the stores are and it's big and has people all the time." I explained as best as I could.

"Does it have food?" He smiled a bit.

"Yes, but you have to pay for it. With the green paper in Auntie's purse. Money." I didn't teach him about money yet. I hoped Daddy would.

"Does it have toys? I want toys." He played with some of Cerise's old toys and wanted his own.

"Yes, I'll get you a couple." Auntie Red told him.

"Let's go to town, Mom, I wanna." He begged.

"Ok, we'll go. Get dressed." I told him and he ran to his room. I went to mine and got dressed.

Falcon was in a green sweater with gold and orange leaves in his chest and jeans. He had his hat on. He looked so cute. I took a picture with my phone and sent it to everyone I had.

"Can we go now?" He asked after the picture was sent.

"Yes." I took him outside and towards the wishing well. It was the way out. We jumped in and came out in another well.

We were in some kingdom I didn't recognize. I saw Fal and Auntie Red and we went to the toy store. He was so excited. I think he squealed. He ran up and down each aisles, touching the toys. Then he found a table of demo toys and had to play with those. I played with them too. After a long while, a few tears after he learned he couldn't have everything in the store, some pouting because of said reason, and many rejections, he finally chose a teddy bear, a toy car, some wooden blocks, a doll of his Grandpa Hood, and a toy bow. I got a couple toy swords at his request so we could play fight.

"There, that wasn't so bad." Auntie Red patted him in the head.

"You weren't the one to have to drag him out of the way of the cash register. That was rude, Falcon. Don't do that again or you're getting anymore toys." I threatened.

"No, Mommy, they need me. Who's going to play with them?" He sniffed.

"Other kids will play them." I told him.

"What if they're mean?" He countered.

"Mean kids don't get toys." I lied.

"Ok. Let's play swords when we get home." Fal smiled.

"Yeah." I nodded.

"You're probably hungry from all that waiting for Falcon." Auntie Red joked. My stomach growled.

"Lunch time." My ash boy sing-songed. We found a restaurant and ate there. It was an Asian food place. I had to stop Fal from eating wasabi. He would've cried. He can hardly handle Hot Cheetos. I blame Sparrow and his white people genes. I'll get Falcon up to my level of tolerance some day. He liked the cashew chicken and BBQ pork. I had something like pad thai, but it wasn't.

We went home after that and I quizzed Fal on everyone's names. He got Apple's wrong as usual and called Dexter "the pretty nerd boy, Daring's brother" until he remembered his name. Maddie's name was easy for him since she was one-of-a-kind. Then we had snack and played swords. I won a couple times before he learned not to try to stab me every time. Then we ran around the yard, just wanting to chase each other. I showed off my Skulking skills and flexibility during the chase. He almost got me a few times.

"Not fair. Stop using magic." He panted.

"It's not magic, it's skill. And a lot of training. You wanna be carried back to Auntie's?" I asked. He nodded, out of breath. I picked him up and took him back to the house. I put him to bed to rest because he was still a baby and got cranky if he had to stay up after a chase like this. I'll let him win next time. After he woke up, we had dinner and watched TV. Then I had to get him to go to bed again, he wanted to play, and wrote some more after he finally fell asleep. Tuesday was jammie day. We didn't do much. On Wednesday, we got packed and went through the well. Daddy was waiting for us. He smiled and hugged me.

"I missed you," He said in a high, excited voice, "I have to tell you something once you get a chance to settle." He whispered, serious.

"It's only been a week," I said in a normal voice, "Ok. What is it?" I mumbled in his ear.

"But it feels so much longer," He looked in my eyes, "Can't risk someone hearing, Sweeite." He barely mouthed.

"I know," I turned to get my bags, quickly tapping in Nimble Morse code: fine. He taught me over the summer so I could talk to him without almost anyone knowing what we were saying.

"Grandpa!" Falcon jumped on Daddy.

"Hey, Bud. You didn't give your mom a hard time, did you?" He held Fal up so he wouldn't be clinging to him.

"No, I was a good boy." He nuzzled Daddy's neck.

"Except when he threw a tantrum in the toy store, but that was it. He wanted all the toys." I added.

"Good. I don't a bratty grandson. Don't do that again." He warned.

"Mom said I couldn't save more toys if I did so no tantrums." My boy yawned.

"I'll get the boys to help while I go find Sparrow. Stay put." Daddy took Fal to drop him off.

I kept my ears open for the sound of the Charmings and instead heard the sound of someone trying to be quiet with something heavy on their back, "Sparrow."

"I missed you so much, babe." He kissed my cheek.

"I hexted you when I could." I rolled my eyes.

"It's different when I can't see you," He growled, holding me to him. He kissed me feverishly now, covering the my left side fo my face. I felt a blush crawl across my cheeks. He turned me around to face him, "You're so adorable."

"You cocky-" I was interrupted by another kiss, this time on the lips. His lips were gentle, but there. I kissed back and he took it as a sign to keep going. I felt Sparrow pull me close enough for our bodies to touch if I moved any. He moaned as I let my hands wander up and down his stomach.

"Oh, Cocoa." He said airly as I nibbled his jaw and kissed his neck then I accidentally rubbed against his chest. He decided he liked it and closed the gap between us, pinning me to him. I moaned as he kissed me again with passion and desire and shivered as he slid his hand up my shirt. I was getting excited and tugged at his belt.

"Hey, stop it! Get your hand out of her shirt." Daring yelled while Dex pulled me out of Sparrow's embrace.

"What the hex, man?" Sparrow growled, this time he was angry and turning red.

"This is exactly why Mr. B. Nimble didn't want you alone with her. Why? You were doing so well." Daring asked him, confused.

"Because I want her. No one let me do so much as hold her hand. Don't you think that does something to a guy? And the contract made Cutie forbidden so that didn't help. That was really good, babe." He told me.

"Thanks." I blushed, looking away.

"I can't find Spa- Why are you holding Cocoa like that, Dexter?" Daddy asked. He looked and saw that he was still holding my waist so he let go in a hurry.

"Don't you dare tell him." Sparrow hissed.

"Tell me what?" Daddy raised his eyebrow.

"Hi, Dad. Why's your neck red?" Falcon doomed his father.

"What?" Putting Falcon down, my father looked closer at the red mark I put there. Then he noticed the nibble mark on his jaw. Sparrow moved back, but it was too late.

"No, please. It can't be... You little bastard." Daddy punched him the gut.

Sparrow gasped as he held his stomach, on the ground from the force of punch.

"Daddy, stop. It's not his fault." I yelled.

"As much as I want to believe that, I know it's not true. I would have known of he was being controlled. Did he kiss frist?" He asked, wounded.

"...Yes." I admitted. He hugged me.

"It's not your fault. You got caught up in the moment. I'm not mad at you." His voice was filled with sadness and fatherly fear.

"Please don't hurt him." I sniffed.

"I can't promise that. He broke the contract. I need to know what happened," I started to speak, "No, not from you. Not from you. Falcon, plug your ears. You're too young to hear this." Daddy gave Sparrow a truth telling potion from his pocket. And asked what happened.

"I heard Cutie's voice and I went to see, but then I saw you so I stayed put until you left. I snuck behind her, but I guess she heard me and said, 'Sparrow.'

I said, 'I missed you, babe.' and kissed her on the cheek.

She snarked, 'I hexted you when I could.'

I told her, 'It was different when I couldn't see you.' and held her to me and started kissing her cheek all over cause I missed her and stuff. I turned her around and she blushed. It's so cute when Cutie does that. Anyway, I told that she was adorable and she got huffy and started to call me a cocky bastard, but I kissed her on the lips cause I didn't want hear her say that. She kissed back and when she let her hands go up and down my stomach, oh, it felt so good. She was so gentle and I moaned. I had pulled her super close to my body, but we weren't touching yet.

She nibbled at my jaw and kissed my neck and I said, 'Oh, Cocoa.' when she rubbed against my chest. I don't think she meant to, but it felt good, her chest on mine, and closed the gap between us. I kissed her again on the lips and she moaned and shuddered as I put my hand up her shirt. Cutie tugged at my belt, to try and get it off. I was so close to feel-" Sparrow was cut off from his retelling because Daddy kicked him in the face. Bullseye skidded back a few feet, having just gotten back up a few minutes ago.

"Don't you dare finish that sentence. Daring, see if he's ok. Cocoa, you're not allowed to be around him without two people on the list and he doesn't get to sit next to you." Daddy told me, stopping me from going to see if Sparrow was ok.

"Dad." I frowned.

"I don't want you to ruin your life because him. A real baby is much different than Falcon is." He reminded me.

"I know that, but-" I protested.

"But nothing. I don't think you could handle an abortion if you did get pregnant. So, please don't have sex. Not yet, ok?" Daddy asked me.

"Ok." I knew he was right. I didn't think I could either. The trauma from Grimm was already a lot to deal with. Sometimes, after a really bad nightmare, I couldn't go get food with Cerise because I was afraid someone might do something to me. She had Raven stay with me until she got back.

"Sparrow said making her forbidden was part of the reason he did that." Dex spoke up.

"He would have gotten a chance once his punishment was over. I was going to let him date her, but he fucked up. I wanted to know I could trust him with my daughter. Clearly, I can't." His voice cracked, upset and mad at that his test failed. I sniffed, understanding what it meant.

"Daddy." I felt tears fall down my cheeks.

"No, Sweetie, shh. You'll still be able to see him. Please don't cry. Please." Daddy picked me up, trying to calm me down, but I was too upset. I liked Sparrow. I hadn't noticed it until he was taken away from me.

"Give him back." I wailed.

"I can't. He had his chance. I'm not ready to trust him again just yet. Maybe later." Daddy rubbed my back.

"Rwahh!" I screamed, hitting him in the back.

"I know, I know." He bounced me up and down like a baby.

"Dexter, what we do?" Daring asked.

"Wait until she stops hitting Mr. B. Nimble." Dex told him.

"Then what?" The blond brother moved out of sight.

"I don't know." Dex said.

"What happened?" Sparrow woke up. I tried to wiggle out of Daddy's grasp, but he was holding onto me too tightly.

"Let go of me. Please, Daddy!" I begged.

"No! I can't let myself do that." He said as softly as he could.

"Can I hold his hand?" I asked.

"...Fine. But I'm not letting you go." Daddy took me to Sparrow and I took his hand in mine. Sparrow looked disgusted.

"I'm so sorry, Cutie. It's all my fault. If I just kept away from the beginning..." He tried to take his hand away, but I wouldn't let him.

"Then I wouldn't have known how cool you were. You wouldn't have tried to change. Falcon wouldn't have been born. You just made a mistake. Daddy will see that." I wanted to hug him and tell him it'd be ok, but I couldn't. Daddy had a deathgrip on me.

"Jack, we, I, heard crying. And yelling. What happened?" Uncle Badwolf and Cerise came out to see what was going on.

"Sparrow made out with Cocoa. They were alone. Take her back to her dorm." Daddy gave me to Uncle Badwolf.

"Jack, I'm sorry." He told his friend.

"Just go make sure she's ok in a little bit, Badwolf. Daring, Dexter, get her bags to her room. Sparrow, watch your son. I need to think." Daddy left.

"Grandpa? Mommy?" Fal said, confused.

"It's ok. Go with your fa-father." I told him, trying not to cry in front of him anymore.

I got taken to my room and I cried a lot more. Sophie and the others took turns comforting me and unpacking my clothes. Stephen went to check on Daddy. Mint's father was worried that he might be more upset than he let on. I didn't want to see Daddy hurt. He didn't have anyone with him right now and that wasn't a good idea.

Stephen's POV

I found Jack at the bar. It's the second place I thought of, the frist being his room. He was at a table with several bottles already empty. His hat was off and his jacket was on the seat.

"Hey." I sat across from him.

"Go away." He mumbled.

"No, I'm staying. Give me that." I tugged at the bottle in his fist.

"It's mine." He drank the rest and put the empty bottle with the others.

"Jack, I'm worried about you." I told him.

"I-I'm perfectly ok." He looked at me straight on. His eyes were bloodshot and puffy.

"No, you're not." I said. A waitress came by to see if he wanted anything.

"Scotch, appletini. Anything'll do." He sighed.

"No, cut him off." I told her.

"I can't. Not yet." She scurried away.

"I made my daughter cry. Do you know how that feels?" He had his head in his hands. I stayed quiet. He laughed sadly before he got mad at himself and knocked the bottles off the table, letting them shatter.

"Look, I really think you should stop drinking for right now." I said as the next round came. He guarded the booze like he needed it to live.

"It's too late now. I'm more 'an drunk and I still can 'member what happened. I wanna forget." He drank the Scotch slowly.

"That's not how it works." I pointed out.

"Just for a little bit, it does. I need that." He finished the bottle somehow while he was talking. Suddenly, his hair got darker and his eyes turned bright blue like Jazz's. He got a bit shorter, around 6 '1" instead of the 6'5"-ish figure I was used to. We were almost the same height now. He was an inch taller.

"Jack?" I asked.

"No, not Jack. They call me Ripper. I'm not sure why though. Can you go tell the bartender Jack passed out? I need to go." He got up to go to the bathroom. I waited for a few seconds then drank the appletini. What the hell did I get into? I found the bartender and told him Jack passed out.

"Oh. Closing time, everyone out!" The white haired man ushered the few people out.

"What's going on?" I asked the man.

"Where's Ripper?" He panicked.

"In the bathroom." I said, not understanding.

"Ok. Help me close the blinds. Hurry before he comes back." We closed the blinds and flipped the sign to closed. Ripper came back out.

"Are we going to the cage now?" The dark brown haired man, formerly known as Jack, ate some nuts from a bowl.

"Cage?" I repeated.

"Yeah. It's a underground fighting ring. It's how Ripper pays for all that Jack drinks. I'm not forcing him to. He likes to fight. Blindfold him. We got to get him ready." The bartender, Mr. Jameson, had me tie the cloth around his eyes.

Then we went to the basement and went through a secret door. He wasn't kidding when he said underground. We were in a cavern, a farily large one, with a chain linked fence circling what was suppose to be the fighting ring. We let Ripper warm up and get ready for his fight.

"Where'd Ripper come from? One minute Jack was drinking a goddamn bottle of Scotch and the next, he becomes this "Ripper" guy?" I leaned on the wall.

"I think Ripper is a part of him. He's linked to Jack's alcoholism and comes out when Jack drinks too much. That's my theory, at least. And it makes sense for the most part." Mr. Jameson sat down on a stool to the minibar we were at.

"Yeah. So, what do we do during the fight?" I wondered.

"Make sure he doesn't die or kill anyone, clean his cuts, the usual. I never meant to become a part of an illegal fight ring, but I have to keep Ripper off the street until he goes back to being Jack. He'll kill everyone if I let him." He tossed some nuts into mouth. I swear he keeps some bowls everywhere.

"Stephen, right?" Ripper asked me.

"Yeah. What is it?" I looked at him.

"Will you stay for my match?" He made Cocoa grade puppy eyes. And that's how I became a part of Ripper's team. I had to calm him down after the match (not easy) and get him home before he sobered up (more easy). We got home ok. It was dinnertime now.

Stephen's POV End

Sparrow's POV

Around 3 pm

Falcon was excited to finally be able to spend time with me, after I reassured him that Cutie was ok, she just needed quiet time. He wanted to keep playing swords, but I had to go find Tucker. I had to talk to him about what happened. He'd know what to do.

"Where're we going, Dad?" He dragged his toy sword behind him.

"To a friend. I want to talk to him." I explained, too worried about Cocoa to care that he called me "Dad". She was bawling when I last saw her and it was all my fault. If only I waited to go see her, then we could be at least sit together. Now, we can't get away with anything and I have to fight her dad. Shit, I have to fight her dad.

"Dad? Did you get think of something scary? When I ate too much pizza before bedtime, I had a nightmare about a pizza monster. But it's ok cause Mom says pizza monsters don't exist." Fal rambled. Damn it, he's adorable like Cutie. But not in the same way, that'd be gross. Tucker, must find Tucker before the kid distracts me with something again. The sword fight took a long time.

"Hey, Sparrow. Why are there two of you?" Tucker asked, running to us.

"Two?" I repeated.

"Yeah. I know I'm talking to the real Sparrow cause you have the guitar and the other one has this younger attitude. Was he just made?" Tuck whispered.

"No, he was born a few weeks ago. Cocoa made him with her Fire and ash. His name is Falcon. Mr. B. Nimble is making me take of him since I'm "the father". I'm not happy about it, taking care of Fal, but Cutie asked me to." I put the father in air quotes.

"That's weird. Have you told your parents yet? I mean, this is pretty big. Rising an ash child." He watched as Falcon stabbed a piece of paper with his sword.

"I wanted them to see Falcon with their own eyes before I told them. I'll do it soon. But I broke the contract, man. What do I do? I'm going to die." I told him quickly.

"Don't piss him off anymore and say sorry, please don't kill me? How bad did you screw up?" Tucker was curious.

"I made out with her. I almost got to second base before the Charmings came to get her bags. It was hot." I smiled sadly. That was probably the last time I would ever touch Cutie.

"You're fucked." He said bluntly. Luckily, Fal didn't hear him. He was too busy poking Dad, asking him things about his tale. Wait, Dad...

"Sparrow! What is the meaning of this?" Dad bellowed. I'm so dead. Falcon was fanboying and didn't notice that Dad yelled at me.

"I can explain." I went to them.

"You better be. Why is he poking me?" Dad swatted Fal's hand away.

"He's just excited. Cocoa said he's your biggest fan." I pulled our son back a little bit. He whined.

"Cocoa's a part of this?" Dad frowned.

"She made Falcon. With her Fire and some ash. He was smaller when he was frist born." I explained.

"She made him?" Dad slowly began to process it. The wheels in his head were turning as fast as they could.

"She's my Mom. Sparrow's my Dad." Fal said helpfully.

"She didn't burn your hair, did she?" Dad asked, a bit scared.

"No, no. He just calls me Dad. He's not really mine. He just thinks he is." I would get hit if Mr. B. Nimble heard me say that.

"Mom said not to let you say that. I am your son." Fal tapped me on the face with an open palm. I think he was trying to slap me.

"I think I get it now. Cocoa made him and she wants you to help raise him since you're her boyfriend, sorta." Dad nodded, sure of himself.

"Yeah. Pretty much." I told him.

"Why didn't you tell us sooner?" Dad slapped me across the face. He was furious.

"I wanted to show him to you in person." I put a hand on my slapped cheek.

"Why didn't you think of that before Cocoa left for a week?" He growled.

"It slipped from my mind." I said lamely.

"You stupid boy. How could you let something that big "slip" from your mind?! Were you too busy singing and fantasizing about Cocoa? How many times-" I had enough.

"Leave Cocoa out of this! She did nothing to you. This was all my fault. You have a problem with my choices, just say it." I was tried of being yelled at, by Cutie's dad or anybody. He might of done that out of bravado to scare me and I think I see why. Cocoa was damaged and not just anybody could date her.

There was a large crowd now and they were waiting for Dad's response. As was I. He glared at me for a minute and sighed, "I have a problem with your choices. Can we go... talk?"

"Yeah. Fal, Grandpa was mad at me so we're going to go talk, ok?" I saw him trying to hide after Dad had slapped me. He clearly didn't like his hero fighting with his dad.

"Ok. No more fighting?" He asked, afraid of what might happen.

"We'll be ok. I just got too, uh, emotional. Go find someone to watch you." Dad told him as the crowd dispersed.

"I'm Raven, your mom's friend. Let's go see her. I think she's a bit better now." Raven winked at me and took Fal away. Dad took me to the coffee shop and we got something to drink while we waited for Mom. It was very tense and we didn't dare talk yet. My hands were shaking badly. Dad was tapping his foot.

"Sparrow, why was there another you with Raven Queen?" Mom asked when she got to our booth.

"Well..." I started.

Sparrow's POV End


	10. Chapter 10

Chapter 10

The Duel

Raven and Fal came to visit me. Ruke let them in. Uncle Badwolf was in my room with me, holding a bowl of soup. He wanted me to eat. I didn't want to. This was not what he wanted.

"C'mon, one bite. The dinosaurs are bored. _Eat us, Cocoa. Uncle Badwolf's hand is getting numb. Hurry before he drops us._" He pretended to be the dino shaped noodles. I opened my mouth and let him feed me. He put the bowl on the dresser, away from the edge.

"Hi, we came to see how Cocoa was." Raven poked her head in the door. Fal wanted to see me and tried to look over her. It didn't work.

"She ate a spoonful of soup and stopped crying a little bit ago. So, that's good." He told them.

"Mommy." Fal wormed his way in and sat on my bed, hugging me.

"I'm ok, Bud." I patted his knee.

"Are you ok? We were worried." Raven asked.

"I guess." I said, not wanting to look at her. I could feel the redness in my eyes.

"Cocoa." she frowned.

"Daddy's going to fight Sparrow and Daddy's stronger. We playfought before and I just know Sparrow won't make. We're like spies and he's a thief, a good one, but still a thief. Not the same level." I put one hand above the other.

"Yeah, you are like spies. Did he teach you how to ma- I'll keep quiet." Uncle Badwolf saw Raven glare at him.

"But he'll put up a fight." She said.

"He will, but Daddy knows where his weak points are. And how to compensate for them." I explained.

"Yeah, I hate it when he sets himself on fire and grabs you, but that's a last resort. I should tell Sparrow that." Uncle Badwolf forgot already.

"Why?" I asked.

"He's trying to cook you." He said simply.

"Oh. We can do that?!" I shouted.

"Yeah, but not for long. The blessing stops it after the threat is gone. Dead." Uncle Badwolf paused when he saw our faces. My eyes were widen open, Fal was thinking about what this meant for him, and Raven was looking around like she was trapped with crazy people.

"Blessings can't do." She whimpered.

"Yeah huh. It's a life or death thing. Kill or be killed. That's why it's a last resort." He snarled.

"No." She gasped.

"Sorry, kid." He shrugged.

"Huggie?" Fal asked her, arms wide open. She did. I think she wanted to get blessed and get the dark magic supressed. She pushed back to tell him to let go, but he wasn't quite ready. It was his frist hug from someone else.

"It's his frist not mom hug." I told her.

"Oh. Let go, buddy." She pushed a bit harder.

"Okie-dokie. You smell like cookies. I like cookies." He smiled and let go of her.

"Don't tell girls that. It's weird." The wolf man frowned.

"Why?" He was curious. I hadn't planned on this until he was a month old.

"It's not something you do with friends." He said vaguely.

"But what if they smell really good?" Fal made his pouty face.

"You only tell your girlfriend she smells pretty." Uncle Badwolf huffed.

"What's a girlfriend?" My ash boy looked at him blankly.

"Didn't you teach him anything?" My uncle changed into a wolf for a minute out of frustration.

"I couldn't overload him. He's a baby." I whispered.

"A girlfriend is like what your mom is to your dad. Ok?" He took a deep breath.

"Grandpa doesn't like Dad." Fal told him.

"Yeah, that happens, but they don't usually duel. Dads don't like to get arrested for putting the boys in line." He told my son.

"Oh, what's going to happen during the duel?" I asked.

"Stay sitting. You see..." Then Uncle Badwolf explained the rules. Basically, they can only use what in the ring to fight each other and what you bring after it's checked for hexes and stuff. It's not fair if you have a weapon that kills for you. You can bring as many as you can openly carry. No hidden stuff. They have to fight until someone can't anymore. If you have magic, you can use, but only if it's a year or older. The opponents try to get magic and fight with the new magic they just got and it ends bad for everyone.

I didn't feel so good after that and needed more quiet time. Cerise came to see how I was. I might of chewed on her cloak until I felt better.

"Bla." I spit out her cloak.

"Better?" She asked, stroking my hair.

"Nu-huh." I shook my head.

"They won't let Uncle Jack kill him." She cooed and I curled up in her lap.

"Rrr." I growled.

"Okay. Oh, I'm dating Daring now. He's really nice once he pays attention. Dad doesn't know yet. He broke up with Lizze awhile ago. Opps." Cerise covered her mouth.

"R-rwahh!" I sniffed and started to cry again. Uncle Badwolf came back in and held me until I got tired and fell asleep.

I don't remember too much after that for most of yesterday But I don't think anything happened. Daddy gave me flowers and pretty chocolates to say sorry. I didn't want to talk to him just yet. Fal came by whenever he could. We played board games. Raven tried to get me outside a couple times. It didn't work.

Without the promise of Sparrow, I didn't want to do anything. He wasn't suppose break it. I should have ran when I saw him. He sent Riff up to see me. I petted the griffin for a good while. He was getting big. He was the size of a labradoodle. Then he left. That was the only good part of my day. The duel was on Saturday and it was Friday night. Did I eat today? Probably. I don't remember anymore. Jazz sat by the door and told me what happened, but I didn't listen to her.

"Cocoa?" Damian knocked on my door. I didn't like him anymore. So, I didn't care when he opened the door and saw me in my jammies.

"Yeah?" I asked.

"I've only been told the basics of this situation, but I know they're worried about you. This isn't healthy. You should at least try to go outside. Falcon misses you. He said you're not you. That some pizza monster got you. I don't know what that means, but I think you need some time away from here. From Ever After." He said gently.

"But I just got back." I pointed out.

"I know, but it's been two days since you got back and no one's sure if you've eaten since the soup Badwolf gave you. Look, here's the key to my summer home on Earth. Just think about it, ok? Call if you decide to go. I promised I wouldn't leave you alone for too long." He put the key on my desk and left. It was a normal looking key, sliver and on a key chain, a lighting bolt. I stared at it for awhile and decided to go look at the place.

I got dressed and went to Blue Cherry. They should really put alarms in. Next year. Or never. Never's good. I drove to the place that haunted my memories, a place I thought wouldn't have to go back to ever again: Grimm's house. He had a portal mirror in his basement. Or did. If it's not there, I'm probably going to breakdown. Maybe it wasn't such a good idea, but what else was I suppose to do? The principal gave me the key to his summer house and not expect me to use it? It was too tempting.

'I want a smoothie.' Mint whined

'No, let's go to Earth.' I told her.

'Smoothie.' Mint repeated.

'You aren't even out.' I said and she sat on the passagers seat.

"Smoothie." Lettuce said.

"When did you get out?" I asked.

"Right now." She replied.

"S-m-o-o-t-h-i-e." Den, Sophie's son, spelled out.

"You too?" I sighed, going to turn around.

"Yeah. We can go tomorrow. Smoothies now." Kurogane told me.

"Crownie's open." I thought, having done a U-turn to get to Crownie's. We got to the fast food place and went through the drive through. We drank our smoothies in the parking lot and I think I fell asleep in the car.

When I woke to go to the bathroom, I was in my room again. I went and lied in bed, thinking about Sparrow. I missed him. He was my friend. And kinda boyfriend. I wasn't ready to officially call him my boyfriend yet. Why didn't I see what he was trying to do? The cabin and the pond. He was _so_ trying to woo me, but I don't care about him lying about that. Maybe Daddy won't mind if I give him a good luck kiss before the duel. If I kiss them both, it's fair. Do I want to go to the duel? I don't want to see them fight, but I can't have think I left them. I think I should go. I'll ask Cerise or Jazz what to do in the morning.

"Mom, Mom." Fal poked my face.

"What?" I pulled the blanket over my head.

"I made you breakfast. C'mon." He pulled at my arm.

"Ok." I got of bed and followed my son into the kitchen.

It was a mess. Eggshells were on the floor, in a pile, and yoke on the wall. Flour caked the counter. When did we get chocolate syrup? Why did it explode on the cupboard door? Was that milk on the ceiling? Smoking toast was on the toaster, with wisps coming off them.

"I tried to help." Cerise cleaned a spot off the counter for me to sit at. Breakfast was runny eggs, dark brown toast, and I think, pancakes. They were disks of cooked batter with waffle marks on them.

"It's ok. You helped with the pancakes, right?" I asked.

"Yeah. That's from the second batch." She said.

"Ok." I sat down and ate. Then we had to clean up. Fal helped where he could. We got the kitchen clean around lunch. Then I cooked for us since Falcon didn't want to leave today. He said it was because Sparrow didn't want my ash boy to distract him while he was doing some last minute training. I almost cried, but I didn't at the mention of the fighting. The duel wasn't until 7, after dinner so everyone could watch. I wanted to go look at the house now. I called Damian and told him after lunch.

We left after meeting at his office. He told Daddy where we were going. I couldn't really face him right now. I did need to get away. My energy was slowly going away. I haven't been the same since Wednesday afternoon. I can't get out of the fog. It's like I was getting closer to the edge again. The one Daddy saved me from. I wasn't sure how close I was to the edge, but I knew it wasn't a safe distance. The bouts of not wanting to do stuff wasn't helping at all. I've been stabbed in my emotions and was bleeding out near a cliff. I wasn't healing here and I knew it.

"Time to get out of the car, Cocoa." Damian opened the door for me. I got out and saw we were in front of a small house. I followed him to the backyard. There was a shallow shed and he unlocked the door. A mirror tall enough for me to see my whole body was in it.

"Nahh." I stuck my tongue out at my reflection.

"You can play later. Let's go see my summer house now." He laughed and held the key in front of him, touching it to the mirror. It rippled and glowed and he walked into it. I didn't look back as I followed the red coattails.

We were in another office and a lady with short black hair in a purple long coat, ruffle-y shirt and a pink tie. She was wearing black tights and boots up to her knees. She whipped out a coat and put it on me.

"There's a football game. Make sure no one remembers her." The purple lady said to my headmaster.

"What's going on?" I asked.

"We'll talk when we get to the house." Damian lead me out and to a red and white car. He drove carefully and then we got to the house. It was unassuming like the one back in Ever After. We got inside and sat down on the couch.

"People know you're missing. If they saw your face, they'd try to return you to your remaining family. I totally forgot. Sorry, Cocoa." He sighed, rethinking his offer.

"Remaining?" I raised my eyebrow.

"Yes, someone's been killing your family members. The oldest ones died frist then the second oldest and so on. I'm so sorry, Cocoa. I should take you back." Damian sighed.

"No, I can't go back. It's too painful right now. Magic can disguise me." I plead.

"I suppose that could work, but we'd need to go back." He told me.

"I know. I don't think I watch them fight so can we come back here after we get what we need?" I asked.

"Yeah. I have a Mirror Portal here, but I haven't gotten to set it up yet. You can go nap or something. We're a few hours ahead of Ever After. It'll be a bit before we can go back." The blond man told me and I went to go nap. I woke up hungry, but we had to go to get our stuff and my disguise.

I packed while Cerise asked me what I was doing.

"I'm leaving. There's too much drama here. Damian said I could go to his summer house for awhile. Daddy said I could. Tell me how everyone is cause I'm not staying to see the fight. Tell Daddy I'm sorry, but I can't stay here anymore right now." I stuffed my suitcase with clothes as fast as I could. I didn't want to see Daddy or Sparrow. We still needed my disguise.

"Mom, what're you doing? Are we going to Auntie Red's again?" Falcon came in and saw me.

"No, I have to go away for awhile. It's not your fault, I just need more quiet time somewhere else." I told him.

"Ok." He sniffed.

"Come 'ere." I hugged my ash boy. He nuzzled my neck. I patted him on the back. He put something in my pocket.

"What'd you give me?" I asked.

"A picture. I drew it." He said softly.

"I'll miss you, Bud." I kissed his cheek.

"I want my mommy back." He sniffed a bit more.

"I do too." Cerise whispered in spite of herself.

"I love you." I left before someone else came in and I found Damian in the hall, waiting for me. Baba Yaga made me a few high use charms for me and a forgetting amulet just in case the charms failed. Then we went back to the car and left Ever After.

Cerise's POV

Cocoa was gone. Falcon sobbed. Cocoa was his world. And now, she couldn't care for him. I knew he blamed himself, it's what little kids do. I let him cry into my shoulder. He chewed on my hood like Cocoa did. I tried to calm him down like I saw her do during a video chat. He fell asleep. I put him on Cocoa's bed and gave him Sparrow Bear. She hadn't come up with another name for it.

"Cerise, where's Cocoa? I wanted to see her." Uncle Jack came in.

"She just left. She said she couldn't stay here anymore." I told him.

"Oh. I-she's staying at Damian's, right?" He asked.

"Yeah." I nodded.

"BW will bring Fal some food. Let's go eat." Uncle Jack lead me to the Castletria. I got pork chops and Dad got steak. Uncle Jack went out to eat. Raven wondered where Cocoa was and I had to tell her.

"Oh." She was quiet from then on until we got dismissed for the duel. We drove out to the arena. Sparrow had to go to the locker room and Uncle Jack had to go to his until everyone was seated.

Some knight read off the rules for tradition sake and then the two came out of their locker rooms. They shook hands before letting the knight get out of the ring and ring the bell so the fighting could start.

Sparrow punched frist, but Uncle Jack burned his fist and taunted him. After a few minutes of taunting and leading Sparrow on, he got serious and started fighting him. He wasn't make it. Sparrow was already getting bruises and cuts. I think I saw blood fly out of his mouth. Dad was trying not to drool. He liked to eat bloody meat. All Wolfs do. I liked mine rare. Uncooked meat felt funny in my throat. Uncle Jack hardly had any sort of scratch or indication that he was fighting other than the sweat I could smell.

"I'm sorry it had to be this way. I truly didn't want this." He told the musician while kicking him in the gut. They were wearing mikes so we could hear them taunt each other.

"Then...stop." Sparrow groaned, clutching his stomach.

"I can't." He told him somberly. Then almost soon after that, Sparrow was on the ground, unable to get up. I caught the soft sound of crying. Who was sad? Sparrow's mom might be. Uncle Jack pulled out a knife he had and started doing tricks and juggling a few more he had gotten out. Like he was performing for little kids. Fal liked it, but that was besides the point. He smiled and started getting a little reckless before reining it in and finishing with a flourish. By throwing a knife into the camera filming them.

"Cocoa will not see this fight! Delete the videos now or else." Uncle Jack growled in a husky tearful voice.

"Do it! Do it now!" Cocoa's aunt yelled. Everyone quickly did what they were told. Uncle Jack smiled. Blondie grumbled about not having anything to show. Sparrow was still on the ground.

"Hey, can someone get him? I don't think he's feeling too good right now." He poked the boy with his foot. The body groaned. Then he was taken away and everyone went back to school to get their bags and go home for Christmas. Dad went to go check on my uncle and then we left to get in line for the well.


End file.
